Yes, it is unfortunate, but true.  Chlorine disinfects the water for
drinking, but it and its by-products irritate lung tissue (in some
people more than others).  You can purchase water filtration units for
your home, which will remove most, if not all chlorine from the water
as you use it.  These units are typically reverse-osmosis filters
(using semi-permeable membrane technology) and distillers, which are
used primnarily for drinking water.

There are also shower-head filtration units available, which remove
chlorine from your bathing water right at the spigot, so you won't
breathe in the steamy caustic fumes into your lungs and absorb the
chlorine through your skin.

The chlorine vapor does irritate the lungs, and may trigger an asthma
attack if strong enough. My youngest son experienced this on the first
day one of the local community pools opened for the summer. It had
been over-chlorinated to prepare for a large crowd, and he had an
attack after about five minutes. One puff of albuterol fixed him up,
but he did frighten a couple of the lifeguards. After a few days, when
the levels dropped to normal, he had no problems swimming there.

I don't think drinking the water would cause any additional problems,
since it would be broken down by the hydrochloric acid in the stomach,
but obviously, breathing the vapors do. You might put some outside in
an open container to allow the chlorine to dissipate before serving.

Bob McConnell
N2SPP

I know when I had my asthma, going in the pool would trigger my asthma and I
had to be careful.  You might want to try getting a water filter that you
could attach to your drinking and cooking water tap.  A good filter can make
a big difference and they're not too expensive and pretty easy to install
under the sink.

Jim Quinlan
http://www.AsthmaStory.com

I decant this excellent New York City tap water into liter carafs
(bottles with wide mouths)  In less than than a half hour the chlorine
has evaporated.

BTW  before  chlorine was added to water there was cholera.