Many environmental pollutants contain cancer-causing chemicals. Everything from the air we breathe to the water that flows from our tab can be of concern.
When we go out or stay indoors, the air we breathe could contain cancer-causing particles that harm our health. Air pollutants occur in industries and places with automobiles and engine exhaustions. Air pollutants are fine particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller.
Air pollutants contain many cancer-causing chemicals and, when inhaled, will increase our chances of getting cancer.
We might assume water from the tap is safe. However, tap water can contain cancer-causing chemicals at higher than safe levels. Depending on where we live, chemicals naturally present in the soil or industrial waste may contaminate some groundwater.
In this article, we will dive deep into how air pollutants and water pollutants increase our chances of getting cancer and the alternatives to reduce our chances of breathing or drinking harmful chemicals into our bodies.
Environmental Pollutants
Environmental pollutants such as air and water pollutants can contribute to cancer risks. Air pollutants such as toxic particles from cars in our city or industrial air waste will increase the chance of developing lung cancers in our lungs. Water pollutants contain 22 carcinogens that could cause cancer. It is essential to wear a mask and monitor air quality in our area to avoid going outdoors, purify the water before we drink, and research the local water quality to ensure the chemical level is below a certain level to decrease our exposure to cancer-causing agents (carcinogens).
When I lived in Taiwan, the air pollution was severe, and I would wear a mask when I walked down the street. The air quality could be of concern for residents who live near roadways, industrial factories, incinerators, and coal power plants.
The concern of breathing in polluted air can be significant. Those harmful toxic air pollutants that are smaller than 2.5 m can be breathed through our nose into our lungs and cause lung cancers and harm our esophagus,
Our drinking water can be of equal concern. When I looked up my resident area and the tap water quality, I found 21 contaminants in my water. Three of those chemicals contained 300 times more concentration than the organization’s limit.
We will discuss how we can reduce water contamination by using water filtration systems and air pollution by wearing masks and indoor air purifiers to reduce our chance of drinking or inhaling toxic chemicals that cause cancer.
Air Pollution and Cancer
Air pollution is fine particulate matter smaller than PM2.5, which is 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. When breathed in, these particles or liquid droplets can cause lung, upper digestive tract, liver, bile ducts, gall bladder, pancreas, and breast cancer.
The matter includes soil, dust, soot, smoke from different sources, and cancer-causing chemicals such as radon, nickel, chromium, cadmium, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and organo-chlorine compounds.
We need to be mindful of the air quality in our area. If the air quality worsens, we should avoid outdoor activities. We should also wear masks or use air purifiers indoors to ensure we breathe in clean air.
During the wildfire seasons in California, the weather agency advises staying indoors whenever possible and wearing a mask when leaving home. The weather report will have regional air quality, so it is a good idea to check it daily before deciding how to protect ourselves against a drop in air quality.
Furthermore, we can reduce air pollution by the following environmentally friendly actions:
- Drive less; take public transportation, carpool, bike, or walk.
- Reduce gas and electricity usage at home
- Don’t burn trash
- Plant and care for trees
We have multiple strategies to reduce air pollution for everyone on Earth. Those strategies will benefit us, future generations, and beyond.
Water Pollution and Cancer
Our tap water may appear clear and have little taste. However, upon a closer examination of its quality, it could contain chemicals that cause cancer. Pollutants can enter our tap water via domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, natural bedrock chemicals, trash buried, and agricultural pesticides.
More specifically, major water pollutants such as arsenic, uranium, radium, and disinfectant byproducts from chlorine could increase our chance of cancer. Learning about the source of water pollutants is alarming, especially since I always thought tap water was safe when we turned on our faucet.
But as I looked up my water source and found many concerning chemicals with high concentrations in my tap water, I started seriously looking into a water filtration system to further purify my tap water for drinking purposes.
Residents care about the source of their tap water. If the water source comes from groundwater, there could be higher arsenic and radioactive materials concentrations. Be mindful of places near manufacturing plants and where droughts often occur, as those waters tend to contain higher concentrations of water pollutants.
A safer source of water compared to groundwater is a water reservoir.
The cancer-causing chemicals that are often in our tap water are as follows:
- Bromodichloromethane
- Chloroform
- Chromium (hexavalent)
- Dibromochloromethane
- Dichloroacetic acid
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5)†
- Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)†
- Trichloroacetic acid
- Aluminum
- Bromide
- Bromoform
- Chlorate
- Chromium (total)
- Dibromoacetic acid
- Fluoride
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Monochloroacetic acid
- Strontium
- Vanadium
The list of chemicals in our tap water above is long; therefore, it is essential to understand what chemicals are in our tap water and how we can eliminate harmful chemicals to reduce our chance of getting cancer.
Test your water quality by hiring a professional, conducting a home test, or using EWG’s Tap Water Database to determine your water quality.
When you can see what significant contaminants are in your tap water, it’s time to find out how to filter our water better to reduce drinking water pollutants. It is also helpful to identify what chemicals exist in your tap water so you can find a filtration system to filter out the chemicals in the best way or other strategies to eliminate those chemicals in our water.
Below are the methods we can implement to reduce water pollutants in our drinking water. Boiling water and using water filtration methods are the major categories.
- Boiling water: I often boil my water first and wait until it cools down before I filter water to eliminate pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites for over 1-2 minutes.
Boiling water can also remove chlorine if boiled over 15 minutes.
- Water filtration methods: There are ways to purify tap water by removing chemicals. The most commonly used methods are activated carbon filters, reverse osmosis, ceramic filters, and ultraviolet.
Activated carbon filter
Activated carbon filters absorb chemicals and pathogens from the water to filter our water. Activated carbon filters remove chlorine, chloramine, VOCs, Pesticides, and Herbicides.
Activated carbon filter does not remove Lead, Arsenic, or Dissolved Inorganic Compounds.
Overall, activated carbon filters remove most chlorine, up to 95%, from water sources.
Reverse osmosis filter
A reverse osmosis filter uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances.
Reverse Osmosis Systems will remove common chemical contaminants (metal ions, aqueous salts), including sodium, chloride, copper, chromium, and lead; may reduce arsenic, fluoride, radium, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrate, and phosphorous.
Reverse Osmosis systems will not remove some pesticides, volatile organic chemicals mostly from cleaning products, and some dissolved gases such as hydrogen sulfide.
Overall, a reverse osmosis filter is a good choice for removing most chemical contaminants that can cause cancer.
Ceramic filter
A ceramic filter leverages the tiny pores within the ceramic to filter and remove pathogenic bacteria, but it does not remove chemical contaminants.
Ultraviolet (UV Light)
Ultraviolet lamps emit UV light of a particular wavelength (254 nanometers) that disrupts the DNA of microorganisms, eliminating them from the water.
I have used boiling water and poured the cooling water into carbon filters for over a decade. I am implementing the reverse osmosis method to purify my water further after finding certain cancer chemicals in my tap water that are over 300 times the limit by the guided organization.
It may surprise people that the air and water we breathe are not as safe as we believe. However, the good news is that we have remedies to filter the toxic chemicals in our water and air.
To reduce our chance of inhaling cancer-causing particles, we must monitor air quality, wear a mask when needed, and use an air purifier to protect ourselves.
It is also essential to track tap water quality in our region and use water filtering systems to eliminate carcinogenic chemicals. Some incidents, such as factory waste or oil leakage, or natural disasters, such as earthquakes or storms, can significantly impact the region’s water quality.
When traveling to a foreign area, you must check the air and water quality and find an alternative to your drinking water source, such as using water bottles or staying indoors if the air quality is poor.
On broader environmental pollution actions, we can drive less, not burn objects, and not pour moderately or toxic and erosive chemicals, including antifreeze, lead-acid batteries, used oil, oil filters, oil/fuel saturated absorbents, solvents, paints, zincs, varnishes, and cleaning products.
Instead, we should find the Country Household Hazardous waste collection center, and toxic items should be disposed of adequately to protect the water source and the environment.
Final Thoughts
Water and air pollution significantly impact our health. To reduce the chance of cancer, we can measure the quality of water and air and implement measures to enhance the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe daily.
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