Swimming in VOC's

I read this very interesting article this morning about Chlorine and swimming pools that thinly disguises the serious health effects of Chlorine, and expertly shifts the emphasis to the actual swimmers.

Any one who deals with Chlorine at any level will tell you that the smell is very much Chlorine, but because it is so volatile it chemically reacts with other substances to form a “cocktail” of unstable, unpredictable Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) all with unknown health and safety issues.

In fact the same reaction occurs in your household water supplies, so you bathe in it wash in it and even drink it! Try filling a glass with water straight from the tap first thing in the morning and give it a good sniff, just like wine tasters do, and you may be unpleasantly surprised.

So it is very important indeed for absolutely every one to have a thorough shower at the pool side (not just at home) before swimming, and also again immediately after to remove Chlorine and VOC’s from your body. There’s probably not very much you can do about breathing in the Chlorine gas given off from the pool, so wherever possible choose a salt water pool that has a very low level of Chlorine in it.

Article
When you walk into the area of an indoor pool, the first thing that likely hits you is the smell of what most of us think is chlorine. But it might surprise you to learn that what's in the air actually has a lot to do with what we bring into the water with us.

And whether it's taking swimming lesson's or doing laps, you're not only immersed in the water, but you likely drink a little, and breath in the air above.

Lurinda Hoogstraten's two daughters visit the Gable swimming pool on WMU's Kalamazoo campus every week. According to state law, they're required shower before jumping in.” They know that's the rules of the pool, that's what they do," said Hoogstraten.
Still, at many indoor pools, people take a dip without rinsing off, which means they bring with them all the lotions, hair sprays, and make up from the day. But the even greater violators are sweat and urine, which like it or not, end up in our swimming pools as well.
"That's why the chlorine is there," said Hoogstraten.

But how does the chlorine actually react? That question brought News channel 3 to Purdue University in Indiana, where researchers are looking at not just what's in the water, but what's in the air.

"You really aren't smelling chlorine, you are smelling some of these by-products," said Purdue Professor of Environmental Engineering, Ernest Blatchley.That's because volatile compounds form when chlorine mixes with the human substances that end up in pool water. Right now, Professor Blatchley says the environmental engineers at Purdue are studying samples from all sorts of sources, looking at levels of sweat and urine.

"They range from lap swimming pools at health clubs, pools at day care facilities, pools at high schools, and also indoor water parks, splash parks," said Professor Blatchley.
The goal is to improve the water and air in indoor swimming areas, in order to protect the health of swimmers.

"Some evidence to suggest in fact there is a link between use of indoor swimming pools and asthma, especially in children," said Prof. Blatchley. "We're interested in other adverse toxilogical effects in humans. What we really are interested in is how to prevent them."

The next study will go beyond sweat and urine, and target skin and hair care products, looking for signs of what happens indoors when people take the plunge.

"They should take it seriously because what they bring into the pool inadvertently will react with the chlorine present in the pool," said Prof. Blatchley. "So they are effecting themselves as well as other people using the pool."

Researchers want to remind swimmers that when they walk into a pool area, it's not chlorine they smell, but the by-products of the chlorine combing with other substances. It's not a sign that the pool is really clean.

Comments

[Vadim Dyachenko]

You are 100% correct. If you read how and why we started Pursanova it will become clearer how water is related to all illnesses and health issues in the world.

I am glad there are people like you that care about the environment and the future of our children on this planet.

This was the whole reason why we went above and beyond all technologis to create our system

Vadim Dyachenko
Pursanova LTD
Water Beyond Filtration
pursanova.com