Long term Health Effects

Matt quotes Dr. Koop in saying that we as a society tend to get caught up in the small stuff (health-wise), while ignoring the big picture (obesity, smoking, etc.). In general, I agree, but, in the case of the potential for long-term harm by exposure to chloramines, I am frankly surprised by the lack of real data. Certainly, there are plausible reasons for concern (nicely discussed on Dr. Rushall's website, URL listed previously on this thread. In addition to adult swimmers (more importantly, actually), there is the issue of young swimmers, many of whom spend up to 4 hours (sometimes more), several to many/most days per week, for 10 or more years, all while they are in a biologically vulnerable growth and development mode. My interest in the subject was first triggered by the obvious association with asthma (in most cases, not a huge problem). But my interest really went up when I started noticing little bronze plaques, memorializing club swimmers (teenagers) who had died of cancer, affixed to walls and benches at local competition pools. Then a 15 year old girl on one of my two daughter's teams was diagnosed with (and later died from) rhabdomyosarcoma. Then a 12 year old on my other daughter's team was diagnosed with acute leukemia (fortunately now in a chemotherapy-induced complete remission). Then a 19 year old daughter of a good friend (who had been an age group and senior swimmer for 10 years) was diagnosed with a very rare type of ovarian cancer. She suffered multiple recurrences, but is now doing well following extensive surgeries. So I wondered: Has anyone ever looked at the incidence of childhood cancer in swimmers, compared to similar groups of kids, who are not swimmers? To my surprise, I found that, no, this has never been studied and reported. How many excess cases of childhood cancer would it take before it was "worth it" to change from chorination to ozonation? 1 per year? 10 per year? 100 per year? How many excess cases are currently attributable to swimming/training intensively in chlorinated pools? Honest people may disagree about the first of the above questions, but I don't see how anyone could disagree that it's not important to answer the 2nd question. Is there any increased risk? What is the magnitude of this increased risk? What would it cost to bring the risk down to acceptable levels? No one knows. And this is a pity. - Larry Weisenthal

Matt quotes Dr. Koop in saying that we as a society tend to get caught up in the small stuff (health-wise), while ignoring the big picture (obesity, smoking, etc.). In general, I agree, but, in the case of the potential for long-term harm by exposure to chloramines, I am frankly surprised by the lack of real data. Certainly, there are plausible reasons for concern (nicely discussed on Dr. Rushall's website, URL listed previously on this thread. In addition to adult swimmers (more importantly, actually), there is the issue of young swimmers, many of whom spend up to 4 hours (sometimes more), several to many/most days per week, for 10 or more years, all while they are in a biologically vulnerable growth and development mode. My interest in the subject was first triggered by the obvious association with asthma (in most cases, not a huge problem). But my interest really went up when I started noticing little bronze plaques, memorializing club swimmers (teenagers) who had died of cancer, affixed to walls and benches at local competition pools. Then a 15 year old girl on one of my two daughter's teams was diagnosed with (and later died from) rhabdomyosarcoma. Then a 12 year old on my other daughter's team was diagnosed with acute leukemia (fortunately now in a chemotherapy-induced complete remission). Then a 19 year old daughter of a good friend (who had been an age group and senior swimmer for 10 years) was diagnosed with a very rare type of ovarian cancer. She suffered multiple recurrences, but is now doing well following extensive surgeries. So I wondered: Has anyone ever looked at the incidence of childhood cancer in swimmers, compared to similar groups of kids, who are not swimmers? To my surprise, I found that, no, this has never been studied and reported. How many excess cases of childhood cancer would it take before it was "worth it" to change from chorination to ozonation? 1 per year? 10 per year? 100 per year? How many excess cases are currently attributable to swimming/training intensively in chlorinated pools? Honest people may disagree about the first of the above questions, but I don't see how anyone could disagree that it's not important to answer the 2nd question. Is there any increased risk? What is the magnitude of this increased risk? What would it cost to bring the risk down to acceptable levels? No one knows. And this is a pity. - Larry Weisenthal