Swimming in chlorinated pools “increases asthma risk five-fold”
September 26, 2008 by Susie Collins
Children who swim regularly in chlorinated pools are five times more likely to develop asthma, research has found.
When I was a little kid, I was always in the ocean or a swimming pool. On Kauai, my mom owned a surf shop on Wailua Bay, and when I wasn’t with my horses, I’d be swimming in the bay (sometimes mixing it up: on the horse in the water!). I used to sneak into the pool at the Coco Palms hotel, next door to our neighborhood, and swim until my finger tips were prunes. During the summers, when I visited my dad in California, we’d go to the country club pool every day (yes, I lived simultaneously in two totally different cultures!). In fact, I have a cap on my left front tooth from smacking my face on the edge of the pool while goofing around in the deep end. I was, in essence, a fish.
But chlorine is nasty stuff, and since I developed chemical sensitivity some 15 years ago, I cannot tolerate it at all. When I’m around chlorinated pools, it affects my eyes, nose, lungs, and makes me feel like crap. If I drink chlorinated water, it tastes (and smells) like chemical soup. That’s why the water in my house is filtered for chlorine at the point of entry; there are no chlorine fumes coming from any pipe in my home.
I know chlorine is toxic. I didn’t develop asthma, but my body tells me it’s toxic. I understand the need to keep public water free from contaminants, especially drinking water, but there are alternatives for swimming pools, and household water needs to be filtered at the point of consumption. We should not be exposed to the stuff!
So here’s a report just out of London about research showing the high incidence of asthma in kids exposed to chlorinated pools:
Swimming is recommended as a good form of exercise for asthmatics because the warm humid air is less likely to trigger attacks than other physical activities.
But mounting research is suggesting that the chlorine used to keep the pools clean could be contributing to the development of the condition.
Researchers in Belgium studied the effects of swimming in outdoor pools regularly from a young age and found a strong link.
Previously the same team have found that indoor pools may also increase the risk of asthma in children.
It is thought the chlorine fumes floating around the surface of the pool may help to trigger the condition by irritating the upper airways.
Interested in alternative swimming pools? I posted about it here, with a great video.
Link to photo by Tom@HK at flickr
I read about this study and was a little alarmed, but then not long after it came out there was an article in Medical News Today that cast a lot of doubt on the methodologies and the conclusions made in it. Regardless of the risk, I’d say the risk of not chlorinating your pool, given all the contaminants possible, is far greater than any slight risk of asthma. I guess we’ll have to see what further research shows, since this is a solitary obscure study.
Robert, I can’t find the article you mention in Medical News Today that criticizes the methodology of the study. Can you please post the link for us?
I can, however, find these articles in Medical News Today on the risks of chlorinated pools:
A report on the study posted on Sept 25, 2008: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/122943.php
And another on Sept 18, 2007 here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82273.php , which states “Warnings about adverse effects of chlorinated swimming pools, particularly where they affect children’s airways, are becoming **increasingly prominent in the scientific literature**. The harmful impact of air breathed in close to the chlorinated water could even be one cause of the upsurge in child asthma recorded in the industrialised countries.” [my added emphasis on trends in the scientific literature]
And on July 2006 on childhood asthma and indoor swimming pools here http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/47588.php .
And another from Dec 2004 on lung damage in kids who frequent chlorinated pools here http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/17337.php .
But I can’t find the methodology critique you mention, please post link for us, thanks!
Also, as I mention in the post, there are indeed other nonchemical ways to keep pools safe, eliminating exposure to both toxins and toxics! That would be my choice.
Hey Susie,
I found this thread via a google search:
I believe that the Medical News Today article that he’s referring to is over here:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123713.php
I’ve done some work for the American Chemistry Council, and I think that experience has given me a real genuine appreciation for the benefits of chlorine. After its introduction into the mainstream about 100 years ago, it has virtually wiped out many water-born illnesses, and I think there is certainly a good bit of correlation/causation with the rise of life expectancy that has happened during that time period.
Take care.
Ah, yes, Cory, the piece to which you refer is written by someone who works for the chemistry industry. As opposed to the multiple reports I cited on the work done by independent researchers. And you have cited your own credentials as someone who has worked for the chemical industry. I’ll let my readers analyze those implications on their own.
I never said there were not benefits of chlorine. My point is that people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity often have bad reactions to chlorine, and it appears that there may be a risk to lung health in children who swim in chlorinated pools, so let’s look at alternatives.
Re swimming pools: There are non-chemical alternatives for swimming pools that keep people just as safe as chlorinated pools.
Re drinking water: I know the importance of chlorination in drinking water, I have run a private water system in my community where I oversaw the testing for contamination and chlorination. When I was a kid, my step dad ran the water system for a very large rural community on Molokai, where he did the testing and added the chlorine. So I fully realize the importance of chlorinated water for public drinking systems. My point on that issue is that I believe the water should be filtered before consumption, esp by high risk individuals such as people with MCS.
Remember the premise here among my readers is that the chemicals to which “canaries” have a reaction are toxic, and should be removed from daily life as much as possible. And to that end we will indeed “take care.”