Do Pools Expose Swimmers to Potentially Harmful Chemicals?
Tests Show People Have Chemical HAA in Urine After Swimming in Chlorinated Pools
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News
July 29, 2011 -- Swimmers have detectable levels of a potentially dangerous chlorine by-product called haloacetic acids (HAAs) in their urine within 30 minutes of a swim, a study shows.
The Environmental Protection Agency limits HAA levels in drinking water because high amounts may be linked to birth defects and cancer. Chlorine is used in drinking water and swimming pool water to kill harmful bacteria. By-products such as HAA occur when disinfectants such as chlorine react with impurities in the water.
The new study is published in Environmental Science & Technology.
Researchers tested the urine of 49 volunteers who swam in or worked around an indoor and outdoor pool. Study volunteers included adults and children.
The researchers found that HAAs appeared in the urine 20 to 30 minutes after exposure and were eliminated from the body within three hours.
(More here. The Vox Verax solution: Check out Creative Water Solutions, which offers pool purification systems that maximize cleanliness while minimizing the use of chlorine. Now widely adopted in Minnesota, where the company originates, the technology employs sphagnum moss in the purification process.)
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News
July 29, 2011 -- Swimmers have detectable levels of a potentially dangerous chlorine by-product called haloacetic acids (HAAs) in their urine within 30 minutes of a swim, a study shows.
The Environmental Protection Agency limits HAA levels in drinking water because high amounts may be linked to birth defects and cancer. Chlorine is used in drinking water and swimming pool water to kill harmful bacteria. By-products such as HAA occur when disinfectants such as chlorine react with impurities in the water.
The new study is published in Environmental Science & Technology.
Researchers tested the urine of 49 volunteers who swam in or worked around an indoor and outdoor pool. Study volunteers included adults and children.
The researchers found that HAAs appeared in the urine 20 to 30 minutes after exposure and were eliminated from the body within three hours.
(More here. The Vox Verax solution: Check out Creative Water Solutions, which offers pool purification systems that maximize cleanliness while minimizing the use of chlorine. Now widely adopted in Minnesota, where the company originates, the technology employs sphagnum moss in the purification process.)
Labels: chlorine, swimming pool
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