I am 47years old and have returned to swimming as a fitness choice. I get 3 workouts of 2500yds/week and feel great. I also have an inground pool that my family enjoys in the summer months. My question relates to the long term consequences of chlorine exposure. Do studies exist that show whether swimmers have an increased health risk to cancers? Has anyone looked at pool chlorine exposure as a health risk in any way? The pools I swim in all use chlorine as a sanitizer and I would hate to think my exercise regimen may be doing me more harm than good!
This is an old thread, wonder if there are folks, like me, interested in this topic? Any new development? If you swim 7 days a week, 1 hour each time, in a heavily chlorinated pool, does it take months or years for the serious harm to be done? The place where I swim, the pool is many floors up on top of the building (indoor pool), but you can already smell very strong chlorine at the building entrance on street level.
I'm wondering if the street-level chlorine odor is an artifact of how the building is vented, espec if it is an older building.
I'm definitely not an expert, but my take on the above-referenced studies is that you probably do not have the type of exposure that would cause serious harm in a normal, healthy person. The one study I read on exposure in elite swimmers looked at those who swam exhaustively many hours a day. Perhaps it would help to reread the abstracts put up by "daggles69" and note the study groups: "competitive swimmers," "intense training," "two hours" (or more) per day, in a poorly ventilated pool area. If you are highly concerned or have a predisposing condition, you may be able to find a pool that does not use chlorine; the newer ones are more commonly using alternatives.
This is an old thread, wonder if there are folks, like me, interested in this topic? Any new development? If you swim 7 days a week, 1 hour each time, in a heavily chlorinated pool, does it take months or years for the serious harm to be done? The place where I swim, the pool is many floors up on top of the building (indoor pool), but you can already smell very strong chlorine at the building entrance on street level.
I'm wondering if the street-level chlorine odor is an artifact of how the building is vented, espec if it is an older building.
I'm definitely not an expert, but my take on the above-referenced studies is that you probably do not have the type of exposure that would cause serious harm in a normal, healthy person. The one study I read on exposure in elite swimmers looked at those who swam exhaustively many hours a day. Perhaps it would help to reread the abstracts put up by "daggles69" and note the study groups: "competitive swimmers," "intense training," "two hours" (or more) per day, in a poorly ventilated pool area. If you are highly concerned or have a predisposing condition, you may be able to find a pool that does not use chlorine; the newer ones are more commonly using alternatives.
