India, Feb. 25 -- A new study has warned that regulatory limits set on a byproduct of a common disinfectant are insufficient to reduce the risk of colorectal and bladder cancer in the United States and the European Union (EU).

The study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives warned that chlorine - a common disinfectant used since the 1900s - reacts with natural organic matter to form a chemical compound called trihalomethane (THM), the most prevalent class of by-products in chlorinated drinking water. The four most common THMs (chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane and chlorodibromomethane) may damage the DNA.

Their study highlighted that the THM likely increases the risk of bladder cancer above concentration of 41 mi...