If you must use carpet, select one with a lower pile. Keep windows open and fans running when carpeting is installed, the time when VOCs are highest. Chloroform may offer one more reason to limit the length of your showers. This gas forms when chlorine, which is used to disinfect public water supplies, mixes with organic matter in the water. The high pressure of showering releases the gas, which the shower-taker will then inhale.
People also absorb chloroform through their skin and ingest it in drinking water.
Chloroform causes kidney and liver tumors in animals, and the EPA lists the chemical as a probable human carcinogen. However, before you give up showering for the rest of your life, consider this. Chloroform is not a typical carcinogen, in which exposure to even a single molecule can set cancer in motion. Instead, evidence indicates that chloroform must reach a certain threshold concentration before it initiates the cancer-causing process, says Buckley. Those who want to be on the safe side can reduce exposure to chloroform by improving ventilation in the bathroom and drinking bottled water.