Will a long soak in the bath give you cancer?

Are you really at risk from cancer just by having a bath? According to some newspaper reports in the past, this may be the case.

Almost all the water we drink or wash in, like the water in swimming pools, is disinfected with the chemical chlorine. However, chemical by-products of chlorination, called trihalomethanes (THMs) are sometimes found in water and have been linked to serious health conditions such as bladder cancer.

A Spanish study found that people who lived in areas where the water had high chlorine rates were more likely to get bladder cancer. But it should be noted that the actual level of risk in both cases was small, especially when compared with the much greater risk of contracting potentially life-threatening infectious diseases from non-treated water.

Swimming and bathing in chlorinated water may result in higher risk as it is thought that absorbing chlorine through the skin is more dangerous as the chlorine does not go through the liver.

Should I be worried?

Although exposure to chlorinated water may cause some increased risk, the key risk factors for bladder cancer are age, smoking, occupation and being male!

People under 40 rarely get this disease.

People who work or have worked in the rubber, chemical and leather industries all have a higher risk. This is also true for hairdressers, printers, painters, textile workers and truck drivers.

Chlorine in the water supply helps to protect us against infectious diseases which have in the past caused deadly epidemics.

Both the World Health Organisation and the UK's Drinking Water Inspectorate agree that there is not sufficient evidence to support the suggestion that chlorine is the cause of bladder cancer.

Turn the tap on, lie back and relax.

This article was published on Fri 25 June 2010