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Friday, March 29, 2024 - 06:57 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Most people do not know that chloramine is the tap water disinfectant used in Greenville by Greenville Water System and in Greer by Greer Commission of Public Works. Chloramine is a combination of bleach and ammonia - two cleaners that you are told to never combine when cleaning.

My son and I have experienced burning, red, itchy skin rashes that no doctor could treat and digestive symptoms including nausea, horrible abdominal cramps, and irritable bowel symptoms. I figured out it was the water after going to chloramine.org which tells symptoms that others are having and shows example skin rashes before and after using chloraminated water. I learned that about 1,000 people in an organization called Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC) were able to prove cause and effect with chloramine. They are dramatically better after avoiding chloramine, but this takes a lot of work.

Our digestive symptoms got better after drinking only bottled spring water, and our skin symptoms got better after putting in a $700 filter that removes chloramine but still leaves 3% chloramine. Chlorine, on the other hand, is much more easily filtered. I still have to rinse my rash with spring water after showering. My rash no longer burns and itches, but it will not heal completely because of the 3% left. Some sensitive people have to shower in other towns that do not use chloramine. None of these people are sensitive to chlorine.

Other symptoms include eye irritations, asthma, and trouble breathing.

The founder of CCAC, Denise Johnson-Kula, was taking a shower the first day chloramine was introduced into her tap water in California. She stopped breathing and started passing out. Her doctor diagnosed it as chloramine sensitivity.

The EPA recommends chloramine in hopes of cutting down cancerous disinfection byproducts left behind when chlorine is used, and chloramine is cheaper. Michael Plewa, a professor of genetics at the University of Illinois, has studied chloramine's byproducts. He says that chloramine's byproducts are some of the most toxic he has ever seen. He also says that because researchers have not found all the byproducts left when disinfecting with chlorine nor have they found all those left when disinfecting with chloramine, no one can know which chemical's byproducts are safer.

Nanofilitration systems would help keep cancerous byproducts from forming, but they cost more money. Since the general public is unaware of this fact, water companies will get away with not purchasing them.

California Representative Anna Eshoo's staff determined that although the EPA was telling chloramine sufferers that they had fully studied chloramine, there were no respiratory, digestive, or skin studies done on chloramine.

I have found several other people in Greer who are having symptoms. Whole states like Tennessee do not use chloramine in any city in their state. I pray South Carolina will make the ethical choice to not allow chloramine in any city. Others with symptoms can call me at 400-8556 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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