An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that the red eyes you get after swimming are not caused by chlorine. Dr. Michael J. Beach, associate director of the CDC’s Healthy Water Program said, “Chlorine binds with all the things it’s trying to kill from your bodies, and it forms these chemical irritants. That’s what’s stinging your eyes. It’s the chlorine binding to the urine and sweat.”
For the annual Healthy Swimming Program, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) worked in collaboration with Water Quality, Health Council and the National Swimming Pool Foundation in order to educate Americans regarding the dangers of pools and how one can remain healthy even when swimming.
Beach further stated that the cough one gets from an indoor pool is also because of a chemical reaction. The chlorine is not the reason why the lungs are irritated but pee. In fact there has been an increase in disease outbreaks in public swimming pools. This has happened largely due to those who go swimming when they are suffering from diarrhea. The germs on their body travel into water and spread. That is why CDC suggests showering before jumping into the pool.
Beach says, “We have a new parasitic germ that has emerged that’s immune to chlorine. We’ve got to keep it out of the pool in the first place. We need additional barriers.” The idea that chlorine eliminates all germs as soon as it makes contact is not true. It requires unique time to completely disinfect each term. For instance, it kills E.Coli under a minute, however needs 16 minute to tackle Hepatitis A while the Cryptosporidium parasite can survive about 10 days.
We all should aim towards prevention instead of medication here. Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.