CHLORINE is a greenish-yellow gas which combines with nearly all elements. It is a respiratory irritant to the mucous membranes and lungs.  Chlorinated liquids burn the skin and many fabrics.  As little as 3.5 ppm can be detected as an odour.  1000 ppm  is likely to be fatal after a few breaths which is why it was used by the Nazis as war gas in 1915.

The April 1987 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Magazine contains a 31 page report that is frightening to anyone concerned with health: "We are in the midst of a chemical revolution in which some 65,000 commercial compounds enter our environment each year. Some are proven carcinogens - cancer causing substances - and many more are suspected of being so. Yet, only 8 chemicals are listed as hazardous......and regulated at their source by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division enforces "RULES FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER " under the GEORGIA SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT (PL93-523). Section 391-3-5-.14(2) of Georgia State Law reads as follows:
"(2) The supplier of water must continuously chlorinate the water to maintain a residual of free chlorine in all parts of the distribution system in the amount of at least 0.5 parts per million, and such additional amounts as may be determined necessary by the Division, unless other means of disinfection have been approved by the Director."

Doctor Patrick Flanagan, named at age 17 as one of the Top 10 Scientists in America by Life Magazine, recently advised in his book ELIXIR OF THE AGELESS that: "Drinking tap water is a slow form of suicide, today's tap water is yesterday's toilet water, too thin to plow and too thick to drink. Chemicals (chlorine and fluorides) used to treat water are positive charged cationic electrolytes that are potentially destructive to the colloidal balance when ingested into the human system. As one result, people die........inch by inch, not really knowing what is wrong!"

Marshall Mandell, M.D., recently published in his book, 5 DAY ALLERGY RELIEF SYSTEM: "Most cases of so-called psychosomatic illness are allergic and nutritional in origin - attributed to water borne chlorine " and that: "in short......everything man drinks is polluted with chemical agents that are foreign to his chemistry, and he is suffering the consequences of possessing a body that is incapable of handling the by-products..."

Dr. William Campbell Douglass, M.D., head of Georgia's oldest (five generation) practicing medical doctor family, began warning his patients against drinking chlorinated tap water during the early 1970's:
"....Chlorine is a very strong oxidizing agent, like bleach, and its effect of the blood vessels is one of destruction...it kills our cells..."

Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., advises readers in the HEALTH FREEDOM NEWS, that the long term effects of exposure to "chlorine in the water supply have scarcely been investigated" and that it (the chlorine) "in water combines very easily with various living substances, forming new organic compounds." Doctor Wright advises that while "chlorination is a necessary evil in public water that does not mean it has to be in you. It shouldn't be." And:
"I don't think it's wise to expose yourself to the risk of chlorine, fluoride, and other miscellaneous chemicals in your water supply."

Richard A.Kunin, M.D., in his recent book MEGA NUTRITION (A Program to Prevent Disease) said this about chlorine: "...even in minute quantities sufficient to kill germs, chlorine can undermine the body's defenses against arteriosclerosis. Chlorine in drinking water creates electrically charged molecules called free radicals....that can damage the intima of blood vessels and so create the environment for plaque formation..."

H. Ray Evers, M.D. was recently quoted: "the chances are that cardiovascular disease will be the cause of death in 3 out of 5 people and that this is contributed to by environmental pollution in water which can add to the harmful toxic build-up in body chemistry." Dr. Evers forewarns:
"The bottom line is clear: of all the ways you could die, there is a 60 percent chance that cardiovascular disease will kill you."

Richard A. Passwater states on page 162 of SUPERNUTRITION that many carcinogenic compounds are washed into our streams which ...
"...were once thought to be harmless but are now known to react with the chlorine used to treat the water we drink to form dangerous carcinogens..."

Dr. Michael Alvania of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. conducted a study of 7 counties in New York and reported:

"...what you could say without any equivocation is that my study demonstrated that people living in areas served by chlorinated water have twice the risk of contracting cancer..."

Researcher Joseph Price, M.D. stated that autopsies performed on U.S. soldiers who were killed in Vietnam showed that many had over 50% arterial blockage, although only in their late teens or the early twenties - caused by chlorine in their drinking water. Doctor Price conducted his own study on the effects of chlorine and he reported that while it is a slow death: "sooner or later chlorine is going to kill you" ... and "...to sum everything up, I must say that chlorine in your drinking water is the absolute cause of heart attack and strokes..."

Note: Near 3,000 deaths in America occur each day from consequences of these diseases.

Today, more and more people are becoming aware of the hazards of chlorine. Several countries have already banned chlorine, while many more are in the process of doing so.

In the United States, corporate giants have already jumped on the bandwagon and are using safe, effective alternatives to chlorine.

There are over 10 million pool and spa owners in the United States who love to hear about our product. In addition, there are millions of ponds, fountains, industrial cooling towers, water recycling treatment systems and marine saltwater habitat systems that have problems with chlorine but don't know about our product.

Environmental regulations are coming. Biophysica Pool Systems has a product that is a safe, proven and effective alternative to chlorine.

In one of the most sweeping attacks ever on chlorine and chlorine-based products, the Clinton Administration announced a Clean Water Plan that could eventually eliminate the chemical's use in thousands of products and applications.

The announcement, made February 1, 1994, by Carol Browner, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was immediately embraced by environmental groups favoring a broad ban on chlorine -- and just as swiftly assailed by representatives of the chemical manufacturing industry.

As Fred Weber, president of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, told USA Today, "There is only one word to describe our industry's reaction: outrage."

On the other side of the fence, those favoring the ban hailed the announcement as a major, positive step. Activists claim that chlorine destroys the environment and presents a health risk to people eating fish in water contaminated with chlorine-containing compounds.

The plan would call for the elimination of chlorine in the manufacture of textiles, paper, pharmaceuticals and in basic water treatment. The proposal would give industry time to develop alternatives -- a process that could cost tens of billions of dollars.

Reaction from the pool and spa industry was swift as well: "This just doesn't make any sense," said Dave Karmol, director of government regulations with National Spa & Pool Institute. "The Clinton Administration's proposal doesn't take into account the wide range of applications of chlorine or any of its benefits to society."

In response to the proposed ban of the 17th atomic element, NSPI has prepared a fact sheet that lists the benefits of chlorine and points out its widespread use in a variety of industries. According to the sheet, "This proposal is not based on good science and would be detrimental to the health and economic situation of all Americans."

In a related story, also published in USA Today, a joint U.S./Canadian scientific advisory commission has issued a statement blaming chlorine for "startling health problems" and calling for both countries to ban it from the marketplace.

"There's enough evidence to suggest that we need to deal with the problem," said Gordon Durhill, U.S. chairman of the commission. Those problems, said the commission, include increased incidences of breast cancer, learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children and increases in male reproductive disorders.

"It's one of the most important environmental policy statements ever made." noted Bonnie Rice of Green Peace