Hot Showers May Be Health Hazards

“TAKING a hot shower, doing the family laundry or washing the dinner dishes may be hazardous to your health, according to a study showing that significant levels of cancer-causing chemicals escape from household water during everyday use. Exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), a common groundwater pollutant, and chloroform, a byproduct of chlorination, may be up to 50 times higher from inhaling water vapors than from drinking water, says chemist Julian Andelman of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. His studies show that hot showers, for example, liberate about 50 percent of dissolved chloroform and 80 percent of dissolved TCE into the air. For people who spend a lot of time at home, vapors from washing machines and dishwashers may be even greater sources of exposure, Andelman says. Some precautions: take shorter showers and baths, use cooler water and use exhaust fans where possible to draw vapors outside.”​—International Wildlife, January/​February 1987.