During our Monday night practice, the chlorine was off the charts high. Several swimmers noticed lung discomfort while working out (we did a 4000 yard practice in 1-hour; necessarily some huffing and puffing.)
That night, I awoke with a burning in my throat and upper windpipe and lungs. It's since moderated a bit.
My questions: has anyone experienced "lung burn" like this? How long before you return to normal? Is there any remedy other than not swimming when the pool chemicals are really out of whack?
I actually complained bitterly the day after; allegedly, a maintenance guy had found the chlorine level low, turned up an additional gas jet, then never came back to check it. The lifeguard has a testing unit that has "5" as the highest unit--the chlorine was above this on the night I swam. The local health dept. closes down pools allegedly if the reading goes up to "10" (not sure what these numbers refer to), and the aquatics director at the Y assured me the level was below 10. I asked her how she could know this--and she said the maintenance crew has a more sophisticated testing unit that goes up higher. According to this, the pool was a 6 or a 7.
My lungs felt better today so I returned to practice. I got the lifeguard to test it--a 2. Swam practice without too much problem, though the air still had a strong residual chlorine smell. A local college pool, Carnegie Mellon, has ceiling fans installed to stir up the layer of chlorine gas that settles directly over the water's surface. Does anyone else know about this solution? It is a pain when you go to try to improve your health, only to assault your lung tissues with poisonous gas!
I actually complained bitterly the day after; allegedly, a maintenance guy had found the chlorine level low, turned up an additional gas jet, then never came back to check it. The lifeguard has a testing unit that has "5" as the highest unit--the chlorine was above this on the night I swam. The local health dept. closes down pools allegedly if the reading goes up to "10" (not sure what these numbers refer to), and the aquatics director at the Y assured me the level was below 10. I asked her how she could know this--and she said the maintenance crew has a more sophisticated testing unit that goes up higher. According to this, the pool was a 6 or a 7.
My lungs felt better today so I returned to practice. I got the lifeguard to test it--a 2. Swam practice without too much problem, though the air still had a strong residual chlorine smell. A local college pool, Carnegie Mellon, has ceiling fans installed to stir up the layer of chlorine gas that settles directly over the water's surface. Does anyone else know about this solution? It is a pain when you go to try to improve your health, only to assault your lung tissues with poisonous gas!
