Not only are health officials ignoring or downplaying the published scientific data and delaying their protection of public health, but the scientists themselves are looking in the wrong direction. Toxicity studies should have been mounted long ago, covering all contingencies, before millions of Americans were exposed to chlorinated water. Though not documented, their toxic effects are already under way all across America. Toxicity should not be proven after the fact, looking backwards and seeing that people were made sick. Toxicology studies should be used preventively , before more consumers are exposed to dangerous tap water by-products.
Evidence exists to begin answering the question of potential toxicity.
Animal studies have already linked the consumption of chlorinated tap water with reproductive disorders, involving embryos and sperm integrity. At least one of the three California counties included in Waller and Swan s study plans major changes in its water system. The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which services 1.6 million customers, will convert over the next eight years from chlorine to an ozone gas disinfectant system. Once again, the public pays dearly, both in financial and health terms, for the ignorance and intransigence of scientists. It s time to exchange prejudice, misinformation, and neglect for science in the service of public health.