Chlorinated Pools 'Cause Asthma' , children at risk in swimming pools

The research team, from the Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, also found that children who regularly attended an outdoor pool before the age of seven were more likely to be allergic to cat or dust mite than those who had not attended an outdoor pool so young.

Children who swam in a pool sanitised using copper and silver showed no increased risk of asthma. The most common way to add copper and silver to a pool is with a machine called an Ioniser, which attaches to the pipework and runs on electricity.

The authors concluded: "In summary, the present study shows that the attendance at outdoor chlorinated swimming pools, at home or during holidays, is associated with an exposure-dependent increase in the risk of asthma."

The researchers advise parents not to over-chlorinate their own pool and not to send their children too frequently to poorly managed outdoor pools with a strong chlorine smell at their surface.

There are five million people in the UK with asthma including more than one million children. Swimming is currently recommended as a good form of exercise for asthmatics because the warm humid air is less likely to trigger attacks than other physical activities.

Leanne Male, Assistant Director of Research at Asthma UK, said: "There are a number of studies to suggest that chemicals such as chlorine might be involved in the development or aggravation of allergic conditions including asthma. This is due to the fact that chlorine products may compromise protective cell barriers within the lungs, meaning people with allergic asthma are more vulnerable to allergens.

As summer approaches we’re digging out our goggles, inner tubes and various pool toys in expectation of lazy days spent at our local swimming pool. So when I learned that 20% of Olympic swimmers have asthma and the possible culprit is exposure to chlorine, it gave me pause.

The problem isn’t the chlorine, but what chlorine turns into when combined with organics. The organics are contributed by bathers in the pool in the form of sweat, dander, urine and other organics. The chlorine reacts with the organics and produces nitrogen trichloride, aldehydes, halogenated hydrocarbons, chloroform, trihalomethanes and chloramines. If these sound like dangerous chemicals, they are. During the Olympic Games held in Australia, it was reported that more than one-quarter of the American swim team suffered from some degree of asthma.
Since we live in an area that already has high rates of pediatric asthma, due to our proximity to a major worldwide port, I began to worry. My son, who suffered from asthma as a toddler, either outgrew it or ….stopped suffering from it when we moved 15 miles further from the port.

 

Abstract
The pool chlorine hypothesis postulates that the rise in childhood asthma in the developed world could result at least partly from the increasing exposure of children to toxic gases and aerosols contaminating the air of indoor chlorinated pools. To further assess this hypothesis, we explored the relationships between childhood asthma, atopy, and cumulated pool attendance (CPA) . We studied 341 schoolchildren 10–13 years of age who attended at a variable rate the same public pool in Brussels (trichloramine in air, 0.3–0.5 mg/m3) . Examination of the children included a questionnaire, an exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) test, and the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) and total and aeroallergen-specific serum IgE. CPA by children (range, 0–1,818 hr) emerged among the most consistent predictors of asthma (doctor diagnosed or screened with the EIB test) and of elevated eNO, ranking immediately after atopy and family history of asthma or hay fever. Although the risk of elevated eNO increased with CPA [odds ratio (OR) = 1.30 ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 1.10–1.43] independently of total or specific serum IgE, the probability of developing asthma increased with CPA only in children with serum IgE > 100 kIU/L (OR for each 100-hr increase in CPA = 1.79 ; 95% CI, 1.07–2.72) . All these effects were dose related and most strongly linked to pool attendance before 6–7 years of age. Use of indoor chlorinated pools especially by young children interacts with atopic status to promote the development of childhood asthma. These findings further support the hypothesis implicating pool chlorine in the rise of childhood asthma in industrialized countries. Key words: aeroallergens, atopy, childhood asthma, chlorine, exercise-induced asthma, exhaled nitric oxide, nitrogen trichloride, swimming pool, total IgE, trichloramine. Environ Health Perspect 114:1567–1573 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8461 available via http://dx.doi.org[/q]
Address correspondence to A. Bernard, Unit of Toxicology, Catholic University of Louvain, 30.54 Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. Telephone: 32-2-7643934. Fax: 32-2-7643228. E-mail: bernard@toxi.ucl.ac.be
This work was supported by grant IBGE 747 of the Brussels Capital Region and the European Union (HELIOS project, CT 99 QLK4-1308 ; A.B., coordinator) . A.B. is Research Director of National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium

We've always been advocates for alternative filtering systems for backyard pools and there are even options for creating natural ponds. But the barriers to going "no chemical" are many and they include, higher-cost of filtration system, finding a company to maintain your pool, overall effectiveness.

Here are the leading chemical free swimming pool filtration systems that typically rely on a mix of ozone and copper and silver ions to filter your pool. Decide for yourself.

Wailini izone System
DEL Ozone
TechnoPure

Keeping Chlorine Out of the Pool [via NY Times]