Vitashower Vitamin C Shower Filter - Is This For Real?
Most people have never heard of a Vitamin C shower filter.
There's a very good reason for this. This technology has
primarily been used in the Asian market for many years with
great success. It has only recently become available in the
United States, but independent laboratory testing has shown
promising results. Once you understand what the Vitashower
Vitamin C chlorine shower filter can do for you and your family,
the choice becomes crystal clear. The Vitashower Vitamin C
shower filter can remove over 99% of chlorine and chlorine
byproducts from your shower water for up to one year.
Some Food For Thought
Recently, municipalities around the world have begun to use
chloramine (a mixture of chlorine and ammonia) to disinfect
water. This is done to reduce free chlorine's ability to combine
with organic matter in the water thereby producing potentially
harmful trihalomethanes, or THMs. Because chloramine has less
disinfecting ability than free chlorine, a higher concentration
of chlorine is usually used to get the same bacteria kill rate.
Yet chloramine's harmful effects are the same as pure chlorine,
so the hazards while showering are greater.
The Vitashower Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid & sodium ascorbate
blend) Shower Filter releases the exact amount of Vitamin C to
neutralize nearly 100% of all chlorine as the water passes
through the shower filter. As soon as the water is shut off, the
Vitashower Shower Filter stops releasing the vitamin. This
economy of Vitamin C release effectively increases the useful
life of the Vitashower Shower Filter. Also, the Vitamin C Shower
Filter works in any water temperature, any water pressure and
the lifetime of the filter does not depend on the water quality.
L-Ascorbic Acid & sodium ascorbate (Vitamin C) also has been
shown to significantly reduce or eliminate chloramines from
public water sources without the water temperature limitations
observed with Activated Charcoal (AC) filtering methods.
All of the benefits discussed here will become clearer as you
read on.
Free Chlorine & Chloramines
To better appreciate the power of using Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic
Acid & sodium ascorbate) as dechlorinating agents in the
Vitashower Shower Filter, the hazards in our water supplies must
be better understood. These dangers are real and should not be
overlooked or accepted by the general public.
Chlorine is universally used to chemically disinfect public
water systems because of its toxic effect on harmful germs,
bacteria and disease-causing organisms. As defined above,
chlorine is a toxic gas. With greater exposure to toxic chlorine
contained in water supplies, the potential health dangers we
face become more real.
During the bathing process, the chlorine evaporates out of the
water and is inhaled. This toxic gas can also spread through the
house and be inhaled by others. Some reports claim that as much
chlorine enters the body by inhaling steamy chlorinated shower
vapors or through the open pores of the skin as that which
enters the body by drinking chlorinated water during the entire
day. This increased exposure to the adverse effects of chlorine
by household residents can be from 6 to 100 times more than
medically recommended.
Chlorine also attacks the skin and skin oils, creating a dermal
drying effect. Shower water can also cause or worsen skin
irritations and rashes as well as drying the skin. Showering and
bathing in chlorinated water will also result in the breakage of
hair shafts. Because chlorine is absorbed into the body through
the skin, additional physical problems can ensue. Chlorinated
water can also irritate eyes, leaving them red, itchy and
burning. Inhaling the toxic steam can aggravate the sinuses and
lungs.
Chloramine, although a more stable compound, contains a
combination of chlorine and ammonia and is also used to control
bacteria in water systems. Its harmful effects cause the same
dangers as pure chlorine. The Vitashower Vitamin C shower filter
can effectively reduce or neutralize both free chlorine and
chloramines with near 100% efficiency. KDF type shower filters
cannot remove chloramines from your shower water.
Vitamin C and Sun Protection
Topical Vitamin C protects skin against harm caused by exposure
to sunlight. It does this by neutralizing reactive oxygen
species (free radicals), the highly reactive molecules produced
by the interaction of sunlight, cell membranes, and other
components of skin tissue. It does not absorb light, and hence,
is not a sunscreen, so it should not be used in replacement of
sunscreen, but rather is a good companion to sunscreen products.
Plus, once vitamin C gets into the skin, it cannot be washed,
rubbed, or perspired off.
Vitamin C is what is known as an antioxidant. Antioxidants
protect skin by neutralizing free radicals, which would
otherwise destroy skin and its components. These free radicals
are stimulated by ultraviolet light and also occur naturally in
the oxygen atmosphere.
Vitamin C and Skincare
The association between Vitamins and good healthy skin has been
established for some time. Laboratory and clinical studies have
indicated a very useful role for applied Vitamins in combating
various skin disorders, especially to assist in preventing,
retarding and arresting certain degenerative changes associated
with the ageing process, such as dry and scaly skin and the
formation of lines and wrinkles.
Vitamin C, the powerful and most potent antioxidant, has the
proven ability to neutralize or counteract damage to the body's
cells caused by free radicals which are understood to be the
major cause of ageing. Scientific research has shown that
applying Vitamin C to the skin helps to stimulate the production
of collagen, an essential protein which forms the skin's
supporting structure. As we age, collagen production slows down
and as a result, the skin begins to show the visible signs of
degeneration in the form of lines and wrinkles. Collagen plumps
up the skin, resulting in a healthier, smoother and more radiant
complexion. Vitamin C is known as the most important ingredient
in Collagen Synthesis - it stimulates collagen production in the
skin. It is very difficult to get high enough concentrations in
the skin through diet alone. For optimal skin health & vitality,
Vitamin C has to be delivered onto and be absorbed into the skin
in order for it to be effective for skin rejuvenation, repair
and protection.
The Vitashower Vitamin C shower filter utilizes only the highest
quality, pharmaceutical grade L-ascorbic acid and sodium
ascorbate in crystalline form. This format reduces the tendency
of Vitamin C to oxidize when exposed to oxygen or light. The
superior crystalline form of Vitamin C found in our shower
filters will ensure the maximum availability to your skin & hair
cells, allowing for increased absorption.
Traditional Shower Filter Technologies
Activated carbon filtration (AC), sometimes referred to as
Granulated Activated Charcoal (GAC), is effective in reducing
certain organic chemicals and some chlorine in cold water.
Chlorine is attracted to and held (absorbed) into the surface of
the carbon particles. However, the efficiency of absorption is
quickly nullified when the water becomes warm or hot. The
lifetime of an activated carbon shower filter is very short. An
activated carbon shower filter gets clogged very quickly by the
dirt it is meant to stop. As soon as that happens, it
immediately starts to supply dirty water. Activated carbon
shower filters are also susceptible to bacterial contamination
due the constant moisture and heat that is found inside the
enclosed space of a shower filter. After time, the bacteria can
no longer be held back and is inevitably released into your
shower water.
KDF, another widely used dechlorination media, is comprised of
copper and zinc. It removes free chlorine by reversing the
electrochemical process that originally separated the chlorine
from sodium in a brine solution. It can't, however, remove
chloramines and its efficiency depends on water temperature, it
doesn't work well in very hot or very cold water. KDF is
considered very good with respect to free chlorine removal in a
well designed shower filter within a certain temperature range
(usually between 90-110 degrees F). However, all KDF shower
filters are not created equal. Again, they are only effective at
removing free chlorine and do nothing with respect to
chloramines.
There are several other limitations of using KDF as a
dechlorinating agent. KDF shower filters are also affected by
water pressure. When the water pressure is not high enough,
water simply can't pass through the KDF media. The major problem
of KDF shower filters is that the lifetime of the filter depends
on the quality of the water passing through it. This is truly a
catch-22. Poor water quality and water pressure effectively
lowers its ability to consistently perform at optimum levels.
Other shower filter manufacturers use sulfur-based compounds
such as calcium sulfite or sodium sulfite (or sulfate) as
dechlorinating agents. These sulfur-based compounds can be toxic
to humans. The addition of excess sulfite and sulfate chemicals
to our water supplies has always been a concern to public health
officials. Shower filters of this type very quickly being
discontinued due to their potentially dangerous side effects.
Some of which are more dangerous than chlorine and its
byproducts.
Another relatively new method of dechlorinating your shower
water is known as FIC or Far Infrared Ceramics. These shower
filters tend to be very expensive; however no evidence exists as
to their chlorine removal effectiveness. They rely on
questionable technologies that have never been proven to
eliminate or even reduce chlorine in a shower filter application.
Many shower filters combine a number of these technologies into
one shower filter design. Some popular combinations include
KDF/AC, KDF/Quartz, KDF/Chlorgon in addition to numerous other
minerals added to a shower filter to improve the feel of the
water. This supplementary media has not been shown to be
effective in respect to chlorine removal with the lone exception
of Chlorgon.
The research by US EPA found that L-Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)
reacts rapidly and stoichiometrically with active chlorine and
has limited interactions with disinfection byproducts. They
found no interference from L-ascorbic acid or its oxidation
product (dehydroascorbic acid) in mutagenicity assays of
chlorinated NOM using Salmonella typhimurium TA100, with or
without metabolic activation.
*Urbansky ET, Freeman DM, Rubio FJ, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL
MONITORING 2 (3): 253-256 2000, United States Environmental
Protection Agency(US EPA), Office of Research and Development,
National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Water Supply and
Water Resources Division, 26 W Martin Luther King Dr,
Cincinnati, OH 45268 USA
The Vitashower Vitamin C chlorine shower filter may be one of
the best products for the home you've never heard of. This
technology is based on in-depth scientific research backed up by
verifiable laboratory test results. Don't let this one pass you
by. Welcome to the future of shower filters.