Chlorinated pools raise asthma, allergy risks for children

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Public Services

Chlorine gas rising from treated pool water triggers asthma and allergy attacks in kids, new research shows.

The effects were found among children swimming in outdoor pools but may be of particular concern as temperatures cool, swimmers move indoor and the high school swim season kicks off.

Belgian researchers writing in the journal Pediatrics followed 847 teens who ranged in age from 13 years to 18 years and found that children who spent 100 hours or more in and around pools disinfected with chlorine had more nasal and pulmonary allergy attacks. The children who spent 1,000 hours or more swimming had more asthma attacks.

Children who swam only in pools disinfected with a copper-silver ionizer did not experience significant numbers of asthma or allergy attacks.

Lead study author Alfred Bernard told Health Day, "When too much chlorine is added to water or builds up in the air of indoor pools, there is unavoidably some irritation of the organs of the bather in contact with the water and air. There is now increasing evidence that these irritating effects may be detrimental to the airways of regular swimmers."