Chlorine in indoor pools may cause asthma

Infants who are taught swimming in indoor pools have a higher risk of developing asthma later on in life because of the chlorine content in the pools. Past studies have found that competitive swimmers and people who work around indoor pools tend to have higher rates of asthma, which could be due to the poor air quality around pools, especially indoor ones.Chlorine is used to disinfect pools and when it combines with swimmers' sweat, saliva or urine, irritating chlorine by-products are formed. One of these is a gas called trichloramine, which irritates the eyes and the upper respiratory tract and gives indoor pool areas their distinctive "chlorine" smell. Researchers at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels evaluated the effects of early exposure to indoor pools and if it predisposes children to asthma. Children were screened for asthma, parents of these children were questioned about their respiratory health, and blood samples were taken to measure particular proteins and an immunoglobulin to find out the status of the lining of the respiratory tract. Out of 341 schoolchildren studied, 43 children who had been enrolled in a swimming programme as infants were about three times more likely to have asthma or suffer recurrent bouts of bronchitis as compared to the rest of the children. It was found that in general, children who had been in the pool as babies were more likely to show signs of damage to the respiratory tract lining. This damage, in turn, seemed to make them more susceptible to asthma and repeated bouts of bronchitis. The chlorine by-products present in and around the pools irritate infants' developing airways, causing changes that make them more susceptible to lung disease later in childhood. The chlorine by-products also lowered the air quality around pools, particularly indoor ones.However, these findings do not suggest that parents should keep babies and toddlers away from swimming lessons. Parents who take their young children for swimming lessons should be alert for signs of over-chlorination. If a strong chlorine smell is detected in and around the swimming pool and the swimmers complain of eye and upper respiratory tract irritation, it indicates the presence of high levels of chlorination products in air and water. However, further research is needed to decide whether or not outdoor and residential pools present a risk to young children's lung health.