NEW YORK — A study recently completed at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain, suggests drinking, bathing or swimming in chlorinated water may increase the risk of bladder cancer, according to a January 18 Reuters report in Scientific American.
As part of the study, researchers examined the effects of trihalomethanes (THM), disinfection byproducts resulting from the use of chlorine in water treatment, on more than 2,400 men and women, about half of whom had bladder cancer, the story said.
The scientists discovered that people exposed to water with an average household THM level exceeding 49 micrograms per liter had double the bladder cancer risk of those exposed to water with a THM concentration below 8 micrograms per liter, the report noted.
Study participants who drank chlorinated water saw their risk of developing bladder cancer increase 35 percent, while use of swimming pools boosted bladder cancer risk by 57 percent, according to the article.
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