Chlorine in the swimming pool can ruin your health and cause cancer

Experts call for alternative disinfectant for swimming pools

Indoor swimming pools in cities were once a status symbol. Now there are other factors to consider. The cost for the maintenance of swimming pools is enormous. But there is another factor that is not often in the foreground, but certainly plays a role: chlorine – the chemical added to disinfect the water. Chlorine is effective and cheap, but it is toxic and has destroyed the health of many lifeguards and swimmers. In some cities there were staff shortages in the pool, because one lifeguard after another died because of cancer.

A recent report on the health hazards of chlorine in swimming pools:

Swimming in chlorinated indoor or outdoor pools may increase the risk of cancer. Because of this fact a team of researchers has been created by Manolis Kogevinas at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona. The researchers have identified more than 100 chemical intermediates in chlorinated pools. They advise not to stop swimming in pools, but want to achieve a change in terms of hygiene and in bathrooms which would require swimmers to make adjustments and to wash thoroughly with soap before the swim.

“Chlorine is a highly active microbial killer and reacts with a variety of organic substances. These include skin cells, sweat and urine, the bathroom specialist Rudolf Wagner declared at a water workshop for the press-text interview. “If one takes a shower before the swim, one reduces these reactions immensely,” said Wagner. “An alternative to chlorine is ozone. This oxidant is less strong and less reactive.”

Chlorine: High reactivity

Although chlorine is an effective bacteria killer, scientists have long warned against the negative consequences for human health. The team with Kogevinias discovered from a 50-member group of subjects, that some of the intermediates of the disinfectant were poisonous and never before found in swimming pools.

The swimmers had their blood, urine, and breath tested before and after a 40-minute swim in the water. After the session, the subjects showed some increased markers of DNA damage that can lead subsequently to cancer. The chemical intermediates enter through the skin and respiratory organs in the body. Nevertheless, the researchers point out that it is too early to conclude long-term health problems from these short-term changes.

Previous studies have shown that lifeguards suffer from increased asthma, respiratory problems, allergies and ear, nose, and throat irritation.

When making plans, consider health risks

In new planning and renovation of swimming pools safe disinfectants should be prioritzed. Exposing pool staff and swimmers to chlorine and its toxic breakdown products, based on research results in recent years, should simply be no longer acceptable. It is easier not think about the health risks for employees and swimmers even when experts are calling for further research but it is unacceptable to continue to expose these people to the known health risks..

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network

Literature: PT Austria, Chlor im Pool: Ziemlich ungesunde Mischung pte/14.09.2010