Do not blame it on the chlorine when your eyes turn red when swimming in the pool. According to the annual health swimming report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the actual cause of redness of the eyes is the combination of swimmer's urine and other chemicals in the Swimming pool.
Today News reports that America's pools are filled with pee and poop. "When we go swimming and we complain that our eyes are red, it's because swimmers have peed in the water," says Michele Hlavsa, chief of the CDC's healthy swimming program.
All the while, chlorine was blamed for skin and eye irritation when people swim in the pool. However, this new study says that it can only affect the body when it is mixed with other chemicals and bodily fluids.
"The nitrogen in the urine combines with the chlorine and it forms what's known as chloramine and it's actually chloramine that causes the red eyes. It's not the chlorine itself. It's chlorine mixed with poop and sweat and a lot of other things we bring into the water with us," she added.
CDC further reports that protecting other people while swimming is important. They are recommending that when a person has diarrhea, he or she should not swim in the pool because it can get other people sick too. Furthermore, they said that pool chemicals can act only on germs but not on the poop, pee, saliva and sweat.
They also recommend that if you own a pool, you can get it tested through a pool tester. They also released recommendations and tips to maintain a healthy pool for you and other people as well. These entail taking hourly breaks to make kids pee or poop in the bathrooms, letting people stay out of the water if they have diarrhea, not letting people swallow the water, showering before they swim and checking chlorine levels.
"We don't want to scare people away from swimming. It's just about doing it in a healthier and safer way," Hlavsa reiterated.