A
new study suggests peeing in pools is actually a bad thing. I know what you’re probably thinking;
scientists had to conduct a study to figure this out? Well, a study published in Environmental
Science and Technology shows that while peeing in the pool is a disgusting and
unhygienic habit it also causes less than healthy reactions that can have
harmful effects on our bodies.
The real problem with this action is
caused when the uric acid, a byproduct of pee, combines with chlorine in the
pool. When these two products react and
combine a harmful gas called cyanogen
chloride can be yielded. This gas, when
inhaled, can cause harm to the central nervous system, heart, and lungs. Along with this byproduct, the harmful gas
trichloramine also has the potential to be yielded due to reaction with uric
acid. Both of these gases have been
linked to acute and chronic lung problems and other health problems in
swimmers.
This problem may seem redundant, but with 1 in 5
Americans admitting to peeing in pools this problem may hang around. Jing Li a professor of applied chemistry at
China Agricultural University that while increasing the amount of
chlorine in the water will help, the most surefire way of riding this problem
is to stop peeing in pools altogether.
So, next time you’re thinking about peeing in a public pool or even your
own, think twice. Or just get out like
the 80% of Americans that would rather not swim in another persons pee.
Alex Sroczynski (6)
Well I have to say this is probably the most surprising post I have come across on this blog, but it actually was very interesting and confirms my madness when someone pees in the pool and they think nothing of it. What is another way to solve this problem other than stop peeing in the pool? Less Chloride?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jacob Geier
Since this can be carcinogenic, peeing in pools seems like a health issue. There should definitely be a way to notify people when it happens so no one does it anymore. I've never seen it in action but there's a chemical that can be mixed into the pool and it changes from clear to color when it reacts with urine. I think they should use this more often knowing this now..
ReplyDelete-NB
This is definitely not a post I expect to read in the blog but it was interesting none the less. What is interesting is the resulting gas that is made from this urine and chlorine mixture, I wonder what the necessary amount of the two ingredients to create a harmful or noticeably enough gas mixture. Are the effects to the nervous system long term or just temporarily debilitating?
ReplyDelete-Thomas Flores
I was wondering similarly to Thomas, how much uric acid is necessary to produce enough gas to be harmful after mixing with the chlorine in the pool. The fact that 1 in 5 people even admitted to peeing in pools was a bit surprising!
ReplyDeletePosted by Morgan Matuszko
Wow, I never thought about this. Do you know of any harmful effects that can be due to the increased chlorine? I never understood why anyone would ever pee in a pool, like Morgan said this is definitely surprising.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Lindsey Janof