Memorial Day weekend has passed. Pools are open across the country and the official welcome party for summer is over.
If you went to a crowded pool this weekend, or if you plan to the rest of this summer, you might want to think about taking a long shower afterwards. A new study published in the Huffington Post reveals that 1 in 5 Americans Pee in the pool.
The study was conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council, who found that not only were people admitting to peeing in the pool, but 7 in 10 people said they didn’t take a shower before getting in.
According to the Chair of the Water Quality and Health Council, Dr. Chris Wiant; “Swimming is not a substitute for bathing. Too many people unknowingly treat the pool as a communal bathtub. It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s important to shower before you jump in the pool to help keep swimming healthy for everyone in the pool.”
Sweat, cosmetics, sunscreen, hair products, fecal matter and dirt can mix with chlorine to create irritants that cause skin rashes and irritate the eyes. These irritants are what cause red eyes after swimming, and the strong chemical smell some pools have, not chlorine.
It is also important to recognize that chlorine does not kill all germs. The Huffington Post notes that bacteria like Cryptosporidium can still survive in Chlorine. This germ is responsible for half of all gastrointestinal outbreaks.
There is really no way to avoid any of this, except to stay away from public swimming pools al together… Which isn’t a bad idea for many reasons.
