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January 20, 2025 13 mins

Could your “clean” water be doing more harm than good? In this eye-opening episode of The Toxic Truth About Water, Drs. Glenn and Ina reveal how chlorine and chloramines—common disinfection agents—can create serious health risks. From eye irritation and dry skin to long-term effects like oxidative stress and compromised immunity, learn why the solution might be worse than the bacteria we’re trying to kill. Tune in to discover practical steps for avoiding these hidden hazards.

What You’ll Learn

  • Chlorine & Chloramine Basics: Why these chemicals are used, plus key differences between them.
  • Short & Long-Term Effects: From skin and eye irritation to byproduct formation and DNA damage.
  • Real-World Examples: How everyday tasks—like brushing teeth or boiling water—factor into exposure.
  • Simple Prevention: Filtration methods, shower filters, and other ways to reduce harmful contaminants.

Key Takeaways

  1. Disinfection Trade-Off: Chlorine and chloramines kill bacteria but produce harmful byproducts (like trihalomethanes).
  2. Unseen Exposure: We absorb these chemicals through drinking water, steam in hot showers, and even restaurant meals.
  3. Action Steps: Testing with OTO, investing in carbon-based filtration, and letting water sit are quick ways to reduce risks.

Resources & Links

Stay Connected

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  • Leave a Review: Enjoyed this conversation? A five-star review helps us reach more people who need to hear the truth about water quality.
  • Share With a Friend: Spread the word—clean water is a universal concern, and together, we can make more informed choices.

Thanks for listening to the second episode of The Toxic Truth About Water! Stay tuned for our next episode! Remember: keep questioning, keep learning, and keep protecting your health.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Glenn (00:01):
Welcome to the Toxic Truth About Water.
We're Drs.
Glenn and Ina, and in thispodcast, we're uncovering the
hidden dangers lurking in yourwater and how they impact your
health.

Ina (00:11):
After decades of exploring natural health, we've learned
the importance of clean, safewater, and we're here to share
that knowledge with you.
From the effects of toxins andcontaminants to the solutions
you need, we've got the insidescoop.
So let's dive in.

Glenn (00:28):
Yeah.
So do you trust the water youdrink?
What about the water you Bathein and the water you cook with,
you might think the chlorine andthe chloramines being used by
your municipalities are there tokeep us safe, but are they
really?

Ina (00:43):
So on today's episode, guys, we're gonna talk about the
hidden dangers of chlorine andchloramines in your water.
My Uncle Marty, God rest hissoul, he had a lot of very
famous sayings in our family,and one of the things he always
said was, for every plus,there's a minus.
And this is very true fortreating our water.

(01:07):
So In third world countries,many people get sick and die
from waterborne illnesses,right?
There could be E.
coli, there could be otherbacteria that are deadly.
And so fortunately, we don'treally have that issue here for
the most part in our countrybecause our water is being
treated.
However, What they're using totreat and disinfect the water

(01:32):
has a lot of harmful effects,which we're going to talk about
today.
But let's just back up and talkabout chlorine and chloramines.
And so chlorine, a very powerfuldisinfectant, has been used
since the early 1900s to killbacteria and pathogens, in the

(01:52):
water.
Chloramines, which is actually amix of chlorine and ammonia, is
used to prevent chlorineevaporation and provide longer
lasting disinfection.
Although it's probably a littlemore effective than chlorine,
which is why they're using morechloramine now than chlorine in

(02:13):
and of itself, but it does comewith even more harmful effects.
That's really what we want toget into today.
Yep.
And so we know there's shortterm effects on our health,
there's long term effects.

Glenn (02:27):
Yeah, it's a crazy catch 22.
We want to handle thebiologicals and the most
important things that are justobvious in the water that,
affect our health.
So we need to get rid of those.
And the sad thing is that thechemicals used to do that, have
these either short, some areshort term, but others are
longer term side effects thatcreep up and are really

(02:49):
devastating on our health.

Ina (02:50):
So let's just talk briefly about the short term, which are
obvious to many people, right?
So if you've ever, Swam in apool with a lot of chlorine your
skin can become irritated,things like eczema or dry skin
can certainly be a result ofeven the chlorine in our home
that is being used to treat ourwater, right?

(03:10):
So many people will notice dryskin, dry scalp, fleeky scalp
from the water.

Glenn (03:17):
It's so true.
It was absolutely classic.
I was a swimmer when I was inhigh school.
And so we used to swim at thelocal college pool loaded with
chlorine.
We'd come out after a two hourpractice.
Our eyes beat red.
could barely see almost likehalos around the lights.
People probably can relate tothis.

Ina (03:35):
I remember as a kid, you come out of the pool, your eyes
are bright red and burning, butyou wanted to stay in another
hour.
You just, I remember just neverwanting to get out of the pool,
but we just, we didn't thinkmuch about it.
Even our parents, it was justwhat happened when you were in a
pool too long.

Glenn (03:50):
didn't have the internet.
We didn't have public knowledgethe way we do now.
Question as much.
Exactly.
We just accept it.

Ina (03:56):
We assumed it was safe.
If it was allowed, it was safe.
Some people really notice theirthroat gets irritated, they're
coughing and again eyediscomfort, right?
So just that burning, stingingin our eyes.
So those are some of the shortterm health effects.
But let's dive in a little bitmore to the long term.

(04:17):
effects, which is extremelyconcerning to us.
With chlorine and chloramine,what's really important to
understand is thosedisinfectants combine with other
natural compounds.
So when water is being treatedwith those detergents, it's
combined with natural compoundsthat are already in the water

(04:40):
and they're creating things liketrihalomethanes, And haloacetic
acids, trihalomethane andhaloacetic acids are in our
water, more so in certain areasthan other areas, but across the
board, this is the result ofdisinfecting our water.

Glenn (05:01):
And again, these are natural byproducts.
This just happens with thechlorine and chloramines
combining with things that arealready naturally in water.

Ina (05:10):
Absolutely.
And these contaminants, thesechemicals that are formed, are
causing, for one, cancer.
Whether it's GI, Urinary tractcancers.

Glenn (05:26):
that is a huge deal.
So imagine guys, the geno toinis a toxin that affects your
DNA.
And so whether it's, I alwaysthink, the first thing that
comes to mind is a pregnantwoman.
Or a very young baby justdeveloping.

Ina (05:41):
Yeah, or even young children who are developing
women in childbearing years Andthen also I never want to forget
to talk about our fur babies,right?
So dogs and our cats our petsthat are drinking this
chlorinated water.
It's also having an effect onthem So we know that cancer is

(06:02):
definitely a long term effectThere's Increased risk from
these byproducts, but there'salso the risk of thyroid issues,
asthma, and an overall weakenedimmune system.
Chlorine and these byproductsare causing a lot of oxidative
stress and damage to our cellsover time.

(06:25):
And what's also interesting ischloramine is actually more
harmful to those who have kidneydisease or a compromised immune
system.
So again, this combination,whether it's, the chlorine, the
chloramine or those byproducts,they're all leading to some real
serious health consequences.

Glenn (06:43):
somebody has a kidney issue.
They go to their urologist,they're told to drink more water
all the time, and perhaps theydon't have any system to help
purify their water, and they'resimply drinking this chlorinated
cleaned water, chloraminedcleaned water.
And now they're really makingthings worse without even

(07:06):
realizing it.
So yeah, they needed to hydrate,but they didn't need to have by
products that actually maketheir kidneys worse.

Ina (07:14):
Yeah.
And remember guys, it's not justwhat we're drinking and cooking
with.
When we brush our teeth, when wetake a hot shower, those vapors
the chlorine is creating a gasthat we're breathing in.
So we're breathing it, we'redrinking it, we're absorbing it
through our membranes in ourmouth, in our skin.

(07:34):
Throughout this series, wereally emphasize it's not just
what we're drinking, and we knowthe importance of drinking pure
water, but it's not just that.
It's just in everything.
It's everywhere.
When we go out to a restaurant,and many of you notice, I know
for me, I never drink the waterin a restaurant unless I know

(07:55):
that those owners are usingreally proper filtration.
I'll never ever drink the tapwater.
Some of you may go in the serverwill come and put water on the
table and right away.
You don't even have to taste itYou can smell it, but sometimes
the taste is so vile like wecan't even drink it

Glenn (08:12):
but the catch there of course is they're also using
that exact same water to cookyour food in

Ina (08:18):
but it's you know as it's cooked It helps that it's being
You're not even really getting,the strong taste or the strong
odor.

Glenn (08:25):
boiled, maybe it helped dissipate a little of it,

Ina (08:29):
exactly.
But I want to share about thislittle experiment that you can
do at home.
So there's something called OTO,which is just it's a little
chlorine tester that many peopleuse.
to test chlorine in their pool.
So you can get it at the poolstore.
You can get it on Amazon, a fewbucks.
And basically you're justputting a few drops in your
water to test it.

(08:49):
So unless you're on well water,or unless you're filtering out
your water.
What we would recommend if youwant to do this little test,
just to prove this point, takesome tap water, put it in a
glass, and then take the OTO andput five drops of OTO in that
tap water.
It's going to turn yellow.

(09:10):
That indicates that there ischlorine and chlorine type
disinfectants in that water.
Okay?
Now, take another glass,

Glenn (09:20):
fresh glass,

Ina (09:22):
With some more tap water.

Glenn (09:23):
Just a little bit though.

Ina (09:25):
Take it and put it in your mouth.
So remember when we brush ourteeth, typically we're putting
some toothpaste on thetoothbrush.
We're brushing and then we'rerinsing out our mouth with
water.
We're swishing it and spittingit out.
So in this case, we're gonnahave you take some water in your
glass.
You're gonna put it in yourmouth, swish it around for a

(09:45):
couple of seconds, the entireamount, don't swallow, and then
spit it back into the glass.
Now add those same drops fromthe OTO container, and what's
mind blowing, even in a coupleof seconds of swishing in your
mouth, the yellow is not goingto be shown.
You're not going to see thewater turn because your mouth

(10:08):
already absorbed that chlorineand those chlorine compounds.
So when we brush our teeth, It'sgetting in there.
Now, you could do that sameexact test by taking a couple of
fingers and swishing it in thewater and then put the drops in.
It's not going to turn yellow.
Your skin already absorbed it.

(10:28):
And then lastly, you can do thiswith food.
You can take rice, oatmeal,pasta, any kind of food, put it
in the water and then drain thatwater off.
And that drained water, you addthe drops, it's not going to
turn yellow.
Why?
Because that chlorine alreadywas absorbed into the food.

Glenn (10:49):
So it can't be denied that 100 percent happens every
time that you're using thewater.
Untreated water if it haschlorine in it, you are going to
be affected that way when you

Ina (11:01):
Untreated

Glenn (11:02):
Unfiltered, right?
The water's treated

Ina (11:03):
What we really want to do ultimately is filter that out
and we're going to be talkingabout in future episodes when we
talk about filtering outchlorine specifically and
chlorine type compounds in thesedisinfectants, the best way to
do that is with certain types ofcarbon filtration,

Glenn (11:22):
either catalytic carbon, activated carbon or a
combination of both ispreferable and these allow you
to remove those chlorine andchloramine compounds from that
water.

Ina (11:33):
Some people will put on a shower filter to do that so that
when you're taking a showeryou're not breathing in or
getting, the chlorine into yourskin.
The other way to reduce theamount is to boil your water.
So boiling water will killpathogens.
It will also dissipate.

(11:54):
The chlorine, but how practicalis that?
Are we going to boil our waterand then shower in it or brush
our teeth in it or boil all thewater we use before we use it?
No.
And then the other way is justto let water sit because of
water just sits

Glenn (12:08):
eventually

Ina (12:08):
chlorine will also dissipate.
But again, how practical isthat?
So that's just, some of the waysthat we can, prevent that.
So let's wrap this up.
we want to make sure that youguys understand that yes,
there's the good and the bad,the plus and the minus of
treating water and it's beingdone.

(12:29):
There's no way around it in ourcountry and our, our water is
being treated, but then knowing.
What that results in and whatthe risks are, that's most
important.
And we're never, we're going totell you, we're never trying to
scare you, freak you out.
We just want you to have thatknowledge so that you can do
something about it, right?

(12:49):
So that you can prevent you andyour family from getting those
cancers, those mutations, those,negative impacts of these
substances.

Glenn (13:00):
Yeah.
Obviously.
you choose the best solution forthe situation you're in, and
that's what we're here toprovide for you.
Chlorine and chloramines arewhere it all begins.
That's where you're going tostart.
Municipal water begins.
And so we're excited that wewere able to touch on that and
at least expose you to what'shappening when you're exposed
even to that.
So again, thanks for joining uson the toxic truth about water.

(13:23):
Make sure to hit follow orsubscribe wherever you're
listening to your podcasts.
This one simple step ensuresthat you're never left in the
dark when it comes to newinformation that we can bring to
light.

Ina (13:34):
Until next time, remember, we're all in this together.
And keep on questioning, keeplearning, stay healthy, stay
informed.
Much love to you guys.
Be well.
Bye for now.

Glenn (13:46):
Talk to you next time.
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