What is the Importance of Bath and Shower Water Protection?

Numerous technical studies have shown that higher doses of volatile organic compounds are absorbed through the skin while bathing/showering than are absorbed drinking the same water. The source of the daily dose of organic chemicals from water is about 15 percent from drinking and 85 percent from bathing and showering. The American Journal of Public Health, Vol.74, No. 5, reports that skin absorption contributes an average of 64 percent of the daily dose of dangerous compounds from chlorinated household water. Children face up to 91 percent skin absorption factor. Studies by the Center for Environmental Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh indicate that at normal shower temperatures about 50 percent of the dissolved chloroform (a carcinogenic chlorinated volatile organic chemical) escapes into the air before the water even reaches the floor. The remaining 50 percent is absorbed through the skin. This results in an exposure 600 percent higher than that from the daily dose of drinking water. Home Page | FAQs | Glossary | Contact Us