Chlorine Exposure

[straysweeper]

I have been considering adding swimming to my things to do for aerobic/cardio, and have been wondering about the the toxic effects of chlorine being absorbed during swimming?

[Dreamline]

Choose a pool that doesn't use chlorine to disinfect. There are other options now.

Jennifer

[ginkgo]

It is better if you can find one that uses ozone instead. If not I hear that it that the chlorine is the worst when showering with hot water. So I do not think it will have too bad an effect on you.

[funchy]

I swim alot, so I had the same concern. There aren't a ton of studies done. What I concluded from the few studies I found: The risk is higher for an indoor pool than outdoor. It's more of a risk in a busy public pool where extra chemicals are used.

Overall, however, the long-term risks are not that huge. Is the % increase enough to be meaningful... probably not. There are far more unsafe hobbies you can have. And on the plus side, you're active and you're doing a zero-impact workout.

No public pool that I know of in my area uses anything other than conventional chlorine. You may have a hard time finding one that uses alternative chemicals.

In my own pool, I looked at the alternative options. They are extremely expensive and you're still dealing with toxic chemicals, and there are concerns that those chemicals don't break down the organic matter in the water. If there are effective ozone or UV disinfecting systems for pools, neither were available for sale at any of my local pool stores.

[Dreamline]

Or you could spring for your own swim pool. Swim spa. You wear a belt attached to the sides and the water rushes past you and you basically swim in place. Then you could control the type of disinfecting and wouldn't have to worry about over chlorinating due to public usage.

Jennifer

[runningbird]

Originally Posted by funchy

I swim alot, so I had the same concern. There aren't a ton of studies done. What I concluded from the few studies I found: The risk is higher for an indoor pool than outdoor. It's more of a risk in a busy public pool where extra chemicals are used.

Overall, however, the long-term risks are not that huge. Is the % increase enough to be meaningful... probably not. There are far more unsafe hobbies you can have. And on the plus side, you're active and you're doing a zero-impact workout.

No public pool that I know of in my area uses anything other than conventional chlorine. You may have a hard time finding one that uses alternative chemicals.

In my own pool, I looked at the alternative options. They are extremely expensive and you're still dealing with toxic chemicals, and there are concerns that those chemicals don't break down the organic matter in the water. If there are effective ozone or UV disinfecting systems for pools, neither were available for sale at any of my local pool stores.

Have you found any studies on hot tubs? I would expect those to be pretty high risk because you get a lot of water vapor, as in a hot shower (where a high amount of chlorine is inhaled).

What about saline pools? Aren't those the most common alternative to clorination?