Attention all swimmers...

[Jolt]

Found this article on MSN just now--certainly makes me want to stick to swimming in the lake rather than the chlorinated pool!! Also makes me wonder what kind of damage the years on swim team could have created...

http://green.msn.com/Articles/articl...1=45002&page=1

[NJBikeGal]

I could have told the scientists that years ago!! 16 years of competitive swimming gave me horrible allergies (destruction of the good guys in the nasal passages that ward off allergens) and excercise induced asthma. I would have been an ideal test subject.

[Jolt]

I could have told the scientists that years ago!! 16 years of competitive swimming gave me horrible allergies (destruction of the good guys in the nasal passages that ward off allergens) and excercise induced asthma. I would have been an ideal test subject.

Yikes!! That sort of thing is why people need to start using different methods of sanitizing pool water. I sometimes lifeguard and teach swimming lessons at the local Y (indoor chlorinated pool, of course) and I think I'll tell the aquatics director about this article next time I see her. At least that pool is pretty well ventilated, but still...

[Pax]

Very interesting! I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons for 23 years, and was on swim team for a decade...and I'm the only one in my family with horrid allergies and "lung issues".

[Lifesgreat]

Because of crypto, most public pools in our area have switched to UV filters. They are pricey, but after doing a cost analysis, they were much more economical than having to buy enough chlorine to "super chlorinate" the pools every few days. As the article showed, UV is a healthier option too.

[Blueberry]

Eye opening. I'm glad I don't spend as much time in chlorinated pools as I once did (and I'm glad most of my pools were outside).

CA

[Bron]

Interesting, I always felt as though my lungs were sunburnt (well, same sort of sore) after swimming when I was a child. Maybe the chlorine was the reason.

Another thing I noticed - here everyone has a shower before getting into the pool, somethnig that didn't seem to happen in the UK.

[sgtiger]

I wonder if that's the reason that my son's allergies and asthma are so severe. He didn't have any symptoms of allergy until he started going to his daycare which had an indoor pool and swimming lessons were part of their daily curriculum, though it was well ventilated. With my family's history he may have been prone to allergies in the first place, but maybe swimming indoors aggravated the condition.

On another note, my BF told me that their community pool uses salt to deter bacterial growth. I thought that was unusual but cool. She does say that the salt water seems to wash away sunscreen much sooner and she has to constantly reapply it on her boys.