Chloroform, we filter that.
Chloroform is also known as trichloromethane or methyltrichloride. It is a colorless liquid with a pleasant, nonirritating odor and a slightly sweet taste. Most of the chloroform found in the environment comes from industry. It will only burn when it reaches very high temperatures. Chloroform was one of the first inhaled anesthetics to be used during surgery, but it is not used for anesthesia today. Nearly all the chloroform made in the United States today is used to make other chemicals, but some is sold or traded to other countries. We also import chloroform.
Chloroform enters the environment from chemical companies and paper mills, It is also found in waste water from sewage treatment plants and drinking water to which chlorine has been added. Chlorine is added to most drinking water and many waste waters to destroy bacteria. Small amounts of chloroform are formed as an unwanted product during the process of adding chlorine to water. Chloroform can enter the air directly from factories that make or use it and by evaporating from water and soil that contain it. It can enter water and soil when waste water that contains chlorine is released into water or soil. It may enter water and soil from spills and by leaks from storage and waste sites. There are many ways for chloroform to enter the environment, so small amounts of it are likely to be found almost everywhere.
You are probably exposed to small amounts of chloroform in your drinking water and in beverages (such as soft drinks) made using water that contains chloroform. You can also get chloroform in your body by eating food, by breathing air, and by skin contact with water that contains it. You are most likely to be exposed to chloroform by drinking water and breathing indoor or outdoor air containing it.
Health Effects:
In humans, chloroform affects the central nervous system (brain), liver, and kidneys after a person breathes air or drinks liquids that contain large amounts of chloroform. Chloroform was used as an anesthetic during surgery for many years before its harmful effects on the liver and kidneys were recognized. Breathing about 900 parts of chloroform in a million parts of air (900 ppm or 900,000 ppb) for a short time causes fatigue, dizziness, and headache. If you breathe air, eat food, or drink water containing elevated levels of chloroform, over a long period, the chloroform may damage your liver and kidneys.
Large amounts of chloroform can cause sores when the chloroform touches your skin. We do not know whether chloroform causes harmful reproductive effects or birth defects in people. Miscarriages occurred in rats and mice that breathed air containing elevated levels (30 to 300 ppm) of chloroform during pregnancy and in rats that ate chloroform during pregnancy. Abnormal sperm were found in mice that breathed air containing elevated levels (400 ppm) of chloroform for a few days. Offspring of rats and mice that breathed chloroform during pregnancy had birth defects. Results of studies of people who drank chlorinated water showed a possible link between the chloroform in chlorinated water and the occurrence of cancer of the colon and urinary bladder.
Cancer of the liver and kidneys developed in rats and mice that ate food or drank water that had large amounts of chloroform in it for a long time. We do not know whether liver and kidney cancer would develop in people after long-term exposure to chloroform in drinking water. Based on animal studies, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that chloroform may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen (a substance that causes cancer). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that chloroform is possibly carcinogenic to humans (2B). The EPA has determined that chloroform is a probable human carcinogen.
At Epic Water Filters, all of our products (Water Pitcher, Bottle Filters, and Under the Sink Filters) are designed and tested to remove chloroform from the water.