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Indoor Swimming Pools Can Be Dangerous
Now that summer is over, swimming enthusiasts will switch their environment to indoor pools. This poses a problem.
Ever step into a pool and smell the strong smell of chlorine? Did you know that what you are actually smelling is an accumlation of chloramines? Chloramines are a mixture of chlorine, sweat, urine, and other pool contaminants. When indoors, this mixture may prove deadly to those who inhale it.
The problem occurs when water chemistry and quality are not maintained. Nor is the indoor pool adequately ventilated (i.e. in an outdoor pool, these gases escape into the atmosphere: not so, in an indoor pool).
Last year, in December 2006, a Nebraska child was hospitalized in an intensive care unit for breathing problems after exposure to an indoor motel swimming pool. Twenty-three additional persons, four of whom sought medical care, also reported eye and respiratory illness after exposure to the same motel swimming pool.
The outbreak likely was the result of exposure to toxic levels of chloramines that had accumulated in the air of the enclosed space around the pool. Chloramines can cause the sudden onset of eye and respiratory tract irritation in swimmers and other persons in the indoor pool environment.
The Nebraska child had a severe case of chloramine toxicity which is not common; most people exposed to chloramines experience less severe symptoms. This outbreak underscores that properly trained pool operators play a critical role in assuring swimmer safety. The operator of this state-licensed swimming pool was not required to be certified and had no verifiable training.
Public pool operators should be trained to maintain water chemistry within acceptable ranges and ensure adequate ventilation in indoor pool environments to prevent accumulation of unsafe levels of chloramines and minimize the associated health risks. Additionally, swimmers should report unusually strong chlorine odor and any instance of pool-associated respiratory or ocular irritation to the pool operator and refrain from entering or being exposed to the air around the implicated pool.
So, next time you smell the pungent odor of chlorine in an in-door pool, report it.
Ever step into a pool and smell the strong smell of chlorine? Did you know that what you are actually smelling is an accumlation of chloramines? Chloramines are a mixture of chlorine, sweat, urine, and other pool contaminants. When indoors, this mixture may prove deadly to those who inhale it.
The problem occurs when water chemistry and quality are not maintained. Nor is the indoor pool adequately ventilated (i.e. in an outdoor pool, these gases escape into the atmosphere: not so, in an indoor pool).
Last year, in December 2006, a Nebraska child was hospitalized in an intensive care unit for breathing problems after exposure to an indoor motel swimming pool. Twenty-three additional persons, four of whom sought medical care, also reported eye and respiratory illness after exposure to the same motel swimming pool.
The outbreak likely was the result of exposure to toxic levels of chloramines that had accumulated in the air of the enclosed space around the pool. Chloramines can cause the sudden onset of eye and respiratory tract irritation in swimmers and other persons in the indoor pool environment.
The Nebraska child had a severe case of chloramine toxicity which is not common; most people exposed to chloramines experience less severe symptoms. This outbreak underscores that properly trained pool operators play a critical role in assuring swimmer safety. The operator of this state-licensed swimming pool was not required to be certified and had no verifiable training.
Public pool operators should be trained to maintain water chemistry within acceptable ranges and ensure adequate ventilation in indoor pool environments to prevent accumulation of unsafe levels of chloramines and minimize the associated health risks. Additionally, swimmers should report unusually strong chlorine odor and any instance of pool-associated respiratory or ocular irritation to the pool operator and refrain from entering or being exposed to the air around the implicated pool.
So, next time you smell the pungent odor of chlorine in an in-door pool, report it.
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