Chlorine

The most specific and detailed harm Aajonus described from chlorinated water was not from drinking it but from the chloroform vapors produced when chlorine in water is heated. He explained that when chlorinated water is heated, as in a swimming pool, hot tub, shower, or bath, the chlorine converts to chloroform gas, which is then inhaled. He described this as "very toxic in the air" and identified it as the direct cause of the respiratory problems common in swimmers.

He cited his own cousin as a case study: a competitive diver who developed asthma specifically because of exposure to chloroform vapor in swimming pools. He described this as a direct causal relationship, not a coincidence, and used it to explain what he called "swimmer earaches, swimmer sore throats, swimmer headaches." In his view, these conditions are not minor inconveniences or infections but symptoms of ongoing chemical damage from chloroform inhalation.

He extended this to long-term consequences, stating that swimmers who are exposed to chloroform vapor over years develop not just asthma but emphysema in their later years, along with broader bronchial, esophageal, and throat damage. The systemic effects he attributed to chloroform vapor from water included weakening and damage to the lungs, blood, thyroid, and brain, and he stated that this exposure predisposes people to pneumonia, other respiratory conditions, and meningitis of the spine and brain.

He was explicit that algae in water, the very thing chlorine is used to eliminate, is not the health hazard it is presented as. He stated that there is nothing wrong with algae, nothing wrong with murky water, and that the insistence on chlorinating water to eliminate these things is driven by interests that benefit from the chemical treatment, not by any genuine concern for human health.

Swimming pools with conventional chlorine treatment were a recurring source of concern in Aajonus's protocols. He described experiencing earaches, sore throats, and headaches from a hotel swimming pool during his own recovery from a serious leg injury, and he stopped using the pool as soon as he identified the chlorine as the cause. He then negotiated with the hotel owner to turn off the chlorine treatment for several days, during which he was able to use the pool therapeutically. He described the pool becoming green with algae during this period and argued that this was not a problem, while the hotel owner's concern about algae damaging pool surfaces eventually led her to resume chlorination.

When negotiating with community pools or hot tubs where chlorine cannot be eliminated, he recommended a specific countermeasure: adding two cups of raw apple cider vinegar to the water before entering. He described doing this himself when using public hot tubs, often pouring the vinegar in discreetly when no one was looking. After adding the vinegar, he would leave for 20 to 30 minutes and then return to use the bath. He noted that even with vinegar, the chloroform vapor in the air remains a concern, and he used language like "very toxic" and "the worst" specifically about chloroform in these settings.

He also mentioned that raw milk could be added as an additional countermeasure in hot tubs, noting that while milk is visible in the water and therefore harder to add covertly, vinegar can be added without detection.

For private hot tubs, he recommended a fundamentally different approach that eliminates chlorine entirely by using a large sand filtration system rather than any chemical treatment. He described installing a 300-pound Hayward sand filter, designed for a large swimming pool, on his own 500-gallon hot tub. He said this sand filter kept the water crystal clear, required no chemical additions whatsoever, and had not needed the sand changed in ten to twelve years of use. The sand filter allowed algae to grow in the hot tub, which he considered beneficial rather than problematic, because algae feeds on metals and draws metals out of the body.

When asked specifically what to recommend to a homeowner's association as an alternative to conventional chlorine treatment, Aajonus recommended salt chlorinators, also called electrical chlorinators. He explained the mechanism: rock salt, which is sea salt in an unprocessed, unsterilized form without additives, is placed in the pool, and an electrical charge is sent through it. This electrical charge converts a portion of the salt into a form of chlorine that he specified as "non-chloroform vapor producing." He identified this as the critical distinction: conventional chlorine treatment produces chloroform vapor, while the salt chlorinator method does not. He affirmed that this approach is acceptable for skin contact as well.

He specified that rock salt is appropriate because it is not cleaned, sterilized, or augmented the way table salt is, and it does not have chlorine added to it the way commercial table salt does.

Showering in chlorinated municipal water was something Aajonus addressed with considerable urgency. He stated directly that in cities with heavy fluoride and chlorine concentrations in the water, showering could leave him, specifically, in a state of severe nervous system reactivity. He described being "a nervous shaking wreck" from showering in such water and said he would not do it under those conditions. He described his own experience getting out of Los Angeles municipal water baths and becoming visibly shaken, with elevated blood pressure, for hours afterward, until he identified the chemicals in the water as the cause.

His recommendation was to avoid showers entirely in favor of hot baths, because in a bath the water can be treated with neutralizing agents before the body enters it, and because toxins perspired through the skin during a bath drift into the water and away from the skin rather than being continuously sprayed onto the body as in a shower.

When showering with chlorinated municipal water is unavoidable, he recommended installing non-chemical filters on the shower and plumbing lines to eliminate chlorine and some other chemicals.

For households dealing with heavily chlorinated municipal water, Aajonus described building a three-stage canister filter system. He specified the order of the canisters in a way that contradicts conventional plumbing advice. He said the first canister should hold a paper filter, acknowledging that paper itself contains industrial poisons from the manufacturing process. His reasoning for placing it first, not last, is not fully spelled out in the available passages, but the sequence he described was: paper filter first, then a canister filled with coconut shell carbon, then a large sand filter as the final stage.

He described building this system for his own publisher because no plumber understood what he was asking for. The intention of the three-filter system is to remove chlorine and other chemical pollutants before the water reaches the point of use, making it suitable for washing fruits and vegetables and for bathing, though he did not recommend drinking filtered tap water.

He also described, in a separate context involving an ionization filter, a process where chlorine is removed through ionization after it bonds with certain minerals, which are then pulled out of the water. He specified that this filtered water is for non-consumption uses such as washing produce and brushing teeth, not for drinking.

For bathing in municipally chlorinated water without a filtration system, Aajonus developed a specific formula to neutralize the chemical burden before entering the bath. He described adding the ingredients to the running bath water, letting them sit for seven to ten minutes before getting in, allowing time for the neutralizing agents to bind with and counteract the poisons.

The primary bath formula he described consisted of two to three cups raw milk, three tablespoons raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and two tablespoons sundried sea salt. He offered an alternative formula of half a cup sundried clay, two ounces raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and three tablespoons raw coconut cream, noting the coconut cream is optional but beneficial for the skin.

He explained the function of each ingredient in this context. The sea salt and Epsom salt both bind with and pull the chemical poisons in the water, creating a chemical association that prevents the poisons from being absorbed into the skin as the body perspires toxins outward during the bath. He noted that Epsom salt is higher in magnesium while sea salt is higher in sodium, and that Epsom salt may be slightly more absorbent in terms of pulling poisons. The milk serves a different function, providing fat and protein that interact with the skin and the water in a protective way. He said the milk is necessary and "better" even when the other ingredients are present.

He also described adding a fruit mixture to his own baths, pouring about two ounces of a blended strawberry, peach, or apricot preparation into the water after the initial ten-minute neutralizing period, letting this sit for five additional minutes before entering. He said this further ensured that all chemicals in the water were neutralized before skin contact.

He described telling a questioner who smelled strong chlorine in bath water to add all of these ingredients immediately: milk, raw apple cider vinegar, and either sea salt or Epsom salt, and noted that the chlorine smell was detectable the moment the tap was turned on in some locations, indicating concentrations "sometimes stronger than in a swimming pool."

On his own hot tub, Aajonus was emphatic that no chemicals of any kind were used. The sole filtration was the large sand filter described above. He said this configuration produced crystal clear water without any chemical treatment, and he maintained it this way for over a decade without changing the sand. The sand allowed algae to grow in the hot tub, which he explicitly welcomed. He described the algae growing in long tentacles that he would lie on, noting that algae feeds on metals and rock, and that lying on it caused the algae to draw metals out of his body. Every three months he said he scraped the algae out and fed it to his plants, which then grew larger flowers.

He also added coconut cream to his hot tub water, washed his hair with fermented coconut cream in the tub, and added vinegar to the water as part of his regular bathing routine.

The hot tub filter configuration he described for households where chemical treatment is not desired was: first a paper filter canister, then a coconut shell carbon canister, then a large sand filter. He recommended using a sand filter sized for a much larger pool than the hot tub itself in order to extend the time before the sand needs changing. He said that if chlorine is being run through the sand continuously, the sand will eventually break down and need to be replaced, but without chemical use the sand lasts far longer.

For community pools where chemical treatment cannot be eliminated, the salt chlorinator was his recommended alternative, specifically because it does not produce chloroform vapor.

Aajonus identified chlorine as being used not only in water supplies but also in food processing. In a newsletter response, he addressed the practice of running filleted fish through chlorine baths to kill bacteria. He described being told by a supermarket fish buyer that, to that buyer's knowledge, all filleted fish was subjected to this chlorine bath treatment, and he found this significant enough to address. He also noted that oysters were reportedly being irradiated. His concern with the chlorine bath for fish was consistent with his broader position that chlorine destroys the bacteria and cellular integrity of animal foods, not just surface contamination.

In his critique of MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement), which is chlorine-based, he elaborated on what chlorine does to animal tissue: when examined under an electron microscope, chlorine dissolves and deteriorates meat cells, not just the bacteria on or in the meat. This observation directly informed his understanding of what chlorinated water and chlorine-treated foods do when they enter or contact the body.

Aajonus made a careful distinction between chloride (the mineral in rock form) and chlorine (the chemical). He criticized those who treat these as equivalent, arguing that chloride in isolation and chlorine in isolation are both potentially harmful, and that combining sodium and chloride to form sodium chloride (table salt) does not make the result safe simply because the minerals are no longer in pure rock form. He extended this analysis to the chlorine in MMS, arguing that the claim that MMS chlorine is "as safe as the chlorine in table salt" is based on a false equivalence because table salt is itself processed and not safe for long-term use.

His position was that any chlorine that is not a natural part of plant or animal tissues, and that is not delivered in conjunction with other nutrients in biological form, is not natural and causes blood and body imbalances. He applied this principle both to the chlorine added to water supplies and to the chlorine used in food processing and supplements.

He also addressed potassium chloride in the context of water softeners, noting that many chemical water softeners use potassium chloride (saltpeter), which he said damages sexual hormones and sexual function. He described discovering iodine in the silica sand of a water softener filter, suggesting that people were being inadvertently exposed to excessive iodine through their water treatment systems as well.

The most detailed personal case study Aajonus shared regarding chlorine in water came from his recovery from a severe leg injury sustained in a hotel setting. After twelve days of bed rest and wound management, he began using the hotel swimming pool to exercise the injured leg in water shallow enough that his body was buoyant and the leg bore minimal weight. Within weeks he developed earaches, sore throats, and headaches, which he immediately identified as caused by the chlorine in the pool. He stopped using the pool and switched to the ocean across the street.

Later in the recovery, he negotiated with the hotel owner to turn off chlorine treatment for approximately five to six days. During this period he used the pool twice daily, morning and evening. The pool turned green with algae within five days. He argued to the hotel owner that the algae was beneficial and not damaging to the pool surfaces, but she eventually resumed chlorination, at which point he returned to using the ocean for his therapeutic walking.

He described this contrast explicitly: chlorinated pool water produced earaches, sore throats, and headaches within weeks; unchlorinated pool water with algae allowed him to continue therapeutic exercise without those symptoms; and ocean water was the preferred environment because it contained none of the chemical additives of municipal or treated pool water.