what's your conspiracy theory?
i'm not a conspiracy theorist, but everyone has That One Thing. mine is that the water in the US is what is making everyone sick.
i'm not sure who needs to hear this, but if you (or anyone in your gene pool) has a type of auto-inflammatory condition and you live in the US/UK/Canada/Australia, your symptoms are probably made worse by chloramine, AKA your tap water.
what is chloramine and why is it here?
chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia and is used to disinfect tap water throughout the US.
- problem: the US has extremely old water infrastructure
- constraint: need a chemical that survives centuries-old cast-iron pipes because its cheaper than replacing the pipes
- solution: chloramine doesn't break down readily, it persists all the way through pipes to your tap
chloramine wasn't introduced because anyone thought it was good for you (obviously). in the US, the EPA tightened regulations on chlorine byproducts which were linked to bladder cancer, and water utilities needed a cheaper fix than replacing the pipes. chloramine produces fewer of those specific, regulated byproducts, so its a win on paper.
- problem: chloramine produces its own byproducts, including NDMA (a human carcinogen), that are currently unregulated
- constraint: the EPA only regulates what it measures, and it measures only what they're being pressured to measure
as of 2024, a compound called chloronitramide anion was identified in US water systems. this is a decomposition product of chloramine and has been in the water for decades. its toxicity is still being studied.
a utility manager in Missouri defended their switch to chloramine, describing it as "a miracle cure. it got us out of a tough problem pretty cheap". tough problem. pretty cheap.
accidental science
i have crohn's disease and spend a lot of time conducting experiments on what my body will tolerate.
→ i went to Sweden, ate a gluten-free baguette, felt fine
→ came home to Maine, ate a gluten-free baguette, did not feel fine
the ingredients in these things were identical, down to the ordering of them.
over the past 6 years, i've been doing this type of low-level layperson research. most times, the only differentiator is the sourcing of the same ingredients- water being the biggest one.
Sweden uses UV treatment for their water. most of Europe has invested enough pipe infrastructure to not need persistent chemical residue surviving the journey to the tap. the US, UK, Canada, and Australia have not.
last fall i was in Edinburgh and experienced the symptoms. i then learned Scotland is/was actively rolling out chloramine across its water network with enough controversy that Scottish parliament hauled in water execs to explain themselves.
chloramine is a documented GI mucosal irritant. its probably why so many people in the US "feel better when they go abroad" despite typically higher indulgence.
what to do about it
your brita filter will do nothing. get a catalytic carbon filter rated for chloramine removal. drink and cook from it for a few weeks. $50-150 experiment. cheaper than another elimination diet. almost as cheap as the miracle cure for the tough problem.
