"The evidence of genotoxic effects were observed in 49 healthy adults after swimming for 40 minutes in a chlorinated indoor pool," CREAL said in a statement on Monday. Posted on 09/13/2010 5:39:24 PM PDT by mlizzy
Swimming in chlorinated pools can cause an increased risk of cancer in bathers, Spanish researchers said on Monday. Researchers from the Barcelona-based Centre of Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) and Research Institute Hospital del Mar studied changes in indicators of mutagenicity -- permanent mutation of the DNA -- among a group of swimmers in an indoor chlorinated pool.
"The evidence of genotoxic effects were observed in 49 healthy adults after swimming for 40 minutes in a chlorinated indoor pool," CREAL said in a statement on Monday.
Researchers found indicators of an increase in cancer risk in healthy subjects as well as potential respiratory effects from the cholorine used as a disinfectant, the statement said.
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As an ex-lifeguard I heartily second this recommendation.
We couldn’t used Baquacil in our hot tub because chlorine gives me a headache. Not sure if you can use it in swimming pools tho.
good thing they dont have any pools there.....(snicker)
We tried using Baquacil in our inground pool and got an incredible case of pink mold. Baquacil was designed primarily for spas and above ground pools. We switched to chlorine and haven’t had any mold/mildew/algae problems since.
there is a pretty easy solution to chlorine - get a salt water pool or convert your existing pool to salt water.
I did a few years ago, it is so much nicer to swim in and your body doesn’t absorbe the chemicals. You also don’t have to buy all the chemicals anymore.
From our own anecdotal evidence I have my doubts. My husband has used a pool on almost a daily basis since the 60s. He has a lot of friends who swim for exercise as well.
No problems other than an increased risk of skin cancer from all the sun. Has anybody been able to replicate the research in this rather small study?
well gee, what does swimming in unchlorinated pools lead to?
sunscreen causes skin cancer....
more cancer! :-)
Interesting. I just read up on them. Thanks! It would nice if the schools switched over, but I imagine it is a cost issue.
When we build, I want a saltwater pool. Need to do more research on construction and costs.
I meant we USED Baquacil in our hot tub. Sorry, shouldn’t try to eat and Freep at the same time...
Have you noticed any problems with your plaster surfaces, especially in the deep end? I’ve got the same kind of system but unhooked it after I had to replaster the pool due to small nodules spreading in the deep end. After draining the pool and looking at them it was clear they would have to be sanded down and even that might not solve the problem. We suspected the problem might have been caused by the salt tablets—they have small granule pool salt now, so perhaps that might not cause the same problems as the salt tabs for softwater systems. Not sure. I may try again, but with the pool salt.
I’m glad the builder of my inground 3 years ago convinced me to go with salt. Much nicer water and practically carefree maintenance compared to the pool at my previous house.
My guess is its the accidental ingestion of heavily chlorniated water. All drinking water is chlorinated to kill off bugs, and even at those low drinking water levels, the chorine reacts with water to form trace amounts of Chloroform, and other trihalomethanes, in the 5 to 40 ppb range. IIRC, 5 ppb is the one in a million cancer risk for Chloroform.
In this light, just hanging out in a pool isn’t much risk, but heavy swimming that involves accidental ingestion of pool water on a regular basis might be.
We love ours - it cost us $600 to convert but saves us around $4-500 a month in chemicals.
That’s what I was afraid of. We had an above ground pool for a few years, but as soon as the boys moved out we did away with it. I wasn’t interested in taking care of it, since I never used it and when a squirrel downed in it that was the end of it for me.
Aw, heck, there’s chlorine in my drinkin’ water. Who’s gonna’ come up with a problem about that?
sarc/
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