Chlorinated Drinking Water Linked to Cancer

November 21, 1999 The Toronto Star

Task force to conduct tests in hundreds of communities

Ottawa (CP) - A new federal analysis concludes that chlorinated drinking water may pose a cancer risk to humans, particularly the risk of bladder cancer.

The report by the Laboratory Center for Disease Control, made public yesterday, is based on an exhaustive review of dozens of studies carried out over recent years in Canada and abroad.

The review has already spurred the Federal-Provincial Drinking Water Committee to re-examine existing standards for levels of chlorine by-products (CBPs).

Despite the undisputed benefit of chlorination in controlling infectious diseases, the epidemiological studies indicate an elevated incidence of bladder cancer among those who have been exposed to chlorinated drinking water for long periods.

"If you put those two lines of evidence together I would say it comes out as a probable link (between chlorinated water and cancer)," said health department expert Donald Wigle, who wrote the review.

He said a task force would test drinking water in hundreds of communities across Canada to determine precisely the current concentrations of chlorination by-products.

The task force will also survey equipment and practices at water purification plants across the country to determine how costly it would be to lower the current limit on the chemicals.

One of the most effective ways to reduce concentrations of the chemicals is to use filtration.

But many communities, especially smaller ones, don't have up-to-date filtration systems.

Wigle said a new standard, if one is deemed necessary, probably won't be proclaimed until late next year. He said consumers could protect themselves from the risk by using household water filters or drinking bottled water.

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