While most of us avoid swimming in a lake or river since we don’t know what’s in there, we rarely consider leaping into pure blue pools. Isn’t it true that if something appears to be clean, it is? Not always, to be sure.
Although our backyard or public pools may not appear to be contaminated, they frequently contain considerable numbers of bacteria (or other sorts of hazardous microorganisms), and the chemicals we apply to combat them are not completely effective. Untreated water can harbour a variety of disease-causing bacteria, including Escherichia coli (also known as E. coli), Salmonella, and parasites including Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia (Dewar 2010).
To combat these pathogens, chlorine is the most often employed chemical disinfectant. While these disinfectants are necessary, according to a recent article in Chemical & Engineering News titled “The chemical reactions taking place in your swimming pool,” “many of them react with organic material in the water—dirt, sweat, urine, and even skin moisturisers” to form another category of harmful chemical compounds known as disinfection by-products (DBPs) (Arnaud 2016).
So it’s not just about what’s in the water; it’s also about what you’re wearing. People can be exposed to DBPs if they come into contact with pool water or the air in the area. Although more research is needed to determine the quantity of DBP exposure required to have unfavourable health effects, those who spend more time in pools are more susceptible to their effects.
So that’s the bad news… but because it’s unrealistic to ask everyone to stop swimming because it’s both fun and good for cardio-vascular health, let’s talk about ways to reduce the hazards in your own pool. One trick is to avoid using too much chlorine. You only need a small amount to kill bacteria, but too much leads in excess chlorine, which can lead to the formation of DBPs (Arnaud 2016).
We frequently shower after swimming, which is a wonderful thing to do; yet, few people shower before entering a pool. Showering before swimming helps to lessen the number of chemicals on your body that the chlorine reacts with. Swimmers, “even when they had been washing or swimming earlier in the day, after one hour of lounging around they were as dirty as they had been when they first walked in,” according to a study released by the US National Centre for Biotechnology Information in 2012. (Keuten 2012).
As a result, before returning to a pool, it’s a good idea to rinse yourself off again. This may bring back memories of your first swimming instructor, but the age-old admonition of avoiding peeing in the pool and not ingesting the water is still relevant. For a reason, the fundamentals remain the fundamentals. In August of 2016, While most of us would avoid swimming in a lake or river since we don’t know what’s in there, we rarely consider leaping into pure blue pools. Isn’t it true that if something appears to be clean, it actually is? Not always, to be sure.
Although our backyard or public pools may not appear to be contaminated, they frequently contain considerable numbers of bacteria (or other sorts of hazardous microorganisms), and the chemicals we apply to combat them are not completely effective. Untreated water can harbour a variety of disease-causing bacteria, including Escherichia coli (also known as E. coli), Salmonella, and parasites including Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia (Dewar 2010).
To combat these pathogens, chlorine is the most often employed chemical disinfectant. While these disinfectants are necessary, according to a recent article in Chemical & Engineering News titled “The chemical reactions taking place in your swimming pool,” “many of them react with organic material in the water—dirt, sweat, urine, and even skin moisturisers” to form another category of harmful chemical compounds known as disinfection by-products (DBPs) (Arnaud 2016). So it’s not just about what’s in the water; it’s also about what you’re wearing. People can be exposed to DBPs if they come into contact with pool water or the air in the area.
Although more research is needed to determine the quantity of DBP exposure required to have unfavourable health effects, those who spend more time in pools are more susceptible to their effects. So there you have it… the terrible news… But, since it’s unrealistic to ask everyone to cease doing something as enjoyable and helpful to cardio-vascular health as swimming, let’s talk about ways to reduce the hazards in your own pool. One trick is to avoid using too much chlorine. You only need a small amount to kill bacteria, but too much leads in excess chlorine, which can lead to the formation of DBPs (Arnaud 2016).
We frequently shower after swimming, which is a wonderful thing to do; yet, few people shower before entering a pool. Showering before swimming helps to lessen the amount of chemicals on your body that the chlorine reacts with. Swimmers, “even when they had been washing or swimming earlier in the day, after one hour of lounging around they were as dirty as they had been when they first walked in,” according to a study released by the US National Centre for Biotechnology Information in 2012. (Keuten 2012).
As a result, before returning to a pool, it’s a good idea to rinse yourself off again. This may bring back memories of your first swimming instructor, but the age-old admonition of avoiding peeing in the pool and not ingesting the water is still relevant. For a reason, the fundamentals remain the fundamentals.