Is Your Showerhead Making You Sick?
New Study Reveals Little-Known Showerhead Danger
by www.SixWise.com
There may be more than warm, soothing water streaming onto your body from your showerhead. Tiny bacteria called Mycobacterium avium may be clinging to your showerhead, according to new research from the University of Colorado, and spraying into your face when you shower.
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Your showerhead may be spraying your body and air with tiny bacteria linked to lung disease.
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The bugs may be particularly dangerous in your shower because they may become aerosolized so you can breathe them in.
Though not typically a threat to healthy individuals, the showerhead bugs have been linked to lung disease and may cause serious health concerns in people with weakened immune systems, including those with cystic fibrosis or AIDs, those undergoing cancer treatment or those who have had a recent organ transplant.
Symptoms of infection with M. avium include:
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Tiredness
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A persistent, dry cough
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Shortness of breath
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Weakness
Studies conducted at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver have also shown an increase in pulmonary infections in the United States from bacteria like M. avium. Norman Pace, the study’s lead author, suggested this could be due to people taking more showers and fewer baths.
How do You Get Rid of Showerhead Bugs?
Because showerheads contain many crevices, they can be difficult to clean. Further, the microbes will come back even if you’ve treated the showerhead with bleach.
So what options do you have? The researchers suggested:
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Using all-metal showerheads, which bacteria have a harder time clinging to
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Changing your showerhead filter weekly (if you have one)
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Take baths more often (as baths splash fewer microbes into the air where they can be inhaled)
Another highly recommended option is to use a Wellness Shower Filter.
Although it has not been tested specifically for its impact on M. avium bacteria, one of the selling points of this system is that it uniquely contains Taicho stone, which is antibacterial and should keep the showerhead clean and safe. In addition, Wellness uses a special vortex of a proprietary metal media that produces strong reduced ions that inhibit bacterial growth.
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Promote a Healthier, Sanitized Shower With the Wellness Shower Filter
The Wellness Shower Filter uses a special vortex of a proprietary metal media that produces strong reduced ions that inhibit bacterial growth.
Before it touches your body, water passes through their proprietary Taicho and Bakuhan medias. Taicho stone gives the water bacterio-static and fungi-static properties, which help your body resist undesirable bacteria and fungus. It also promotes a healthier, sanitized shower.
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With the Wellness Shower Filter, after water has been filtered to remove chlorine it is optimized with rare Japanese minerals to enhance your showering experience. First water proceeds through their patented magnetic treatment stage. Here reduced ions are generated that protect your skin from free radical attack and aid your body in repairing damaged skin and hair. This stage is also responsible for increasing hydration by 115% over tap water, moisturizing your hair and skin without the residue of lotions.
Once the water has passed through the magnetic treatment stage it passes through their proprietary Taicho and Bakuhan medias. Taicho stone gives the water bacterio-static and fungi-static properties, which help your body resist undesirable bacteria and fungus. It also promotes a healthier, sanitized shower.
But there is another major reason why you may also want to consider a installing a Wellness Shower Filter in all of your home’s showers, and that is its proven ability to remove chlorine.
Why You Should Get the Chlorine Out of Your Shower Water
Unlike M. avium bacteria, which are primarily a threat for those with weakened immune systems, chlorine is a potential threat to everyone who showers.
When chlorine comes into contact with other naturally occurring elements in water, it forms dangerous byproducts such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and chloroform. Studies have linked these chlorine byproducts to many serious health risks such as:
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Bladder cancer
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Heart disease
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Asthma
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Eczema
Chlorinated water itself has also been linked to increased risks of cancer, birth defects, stillbirth, and miscarriages.
The danger comes not only from drinking chlorinated water, but also, and even more so, from showering or bathing in the water. THMs can be absorbed by your skin, and when you shower or take a bath, the warm water opens up your skin's pores, making it like a sponge for chlorine.
Meanwhile, the steam in your shower, which you readily inhale, is full of chlorine and its byproducts as well. Since your skin is the largest organ of your body, some estimates say that steam can transport into your body up to 100 times the toxic chemicals as you would get from drinking tap water.
Meanwhile, when you drink chlorinated water, some of these toxins get filtered by your kidneys, liver and digestive system. This is not so when you breathe in these chemical vapors; there is no filtering, just a direct route to your blood stream.
As the risks of exposure to chlorine and chlorination byproducts from your shower and bath become widely known, it’s essential to know that you can remove these toxins from the water using a high-quality shower filter. Be careful, however, as they do NOT all filter out chlorine.
Fortunately, Sixwise.com has done much of the legwork for you and identified a top-of-the-line shower filter that effectively reduces up to 99 percent of chlorine from your shower's water for up to 24 months, which is two or three times longer than any other shower filtration system available.
This is one of many reasons why the Number 1 Health Spa in the world, Hippocrates Health Institute, uses the Wellness Shower exclusively. Now you can turn your shower into a spa, too, and ensure your family is showering in pure, enhanced water.
Order Your Wellness Shower Filter Now!
Recommended Reading
How to Avoid the Hidden Danger Lurking in Your Shower
Bath or Shower: Which is Better for You and Why?
Sources
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences September 14, 2009
Yahoo News September 14, 2009