“Chlorine In Treating Swimming Pools . Is It Safe ?”

Chlorine (Cl₂) is a reactive element produced in the form of solid and liquid. Chlorine are usually used as disinfectants and sterilizers to clean swimming pools. Chlorine is added to swimming pools just after the pool is filtered. The filtering process is done by using a chemical feeder.

Once chlorine is added into the pool water, hypochlorous acid (HOCL) and hypochlorite ion (OCl¯) are formed. These chemicals kill microorganisms, algae and bacterias such as E. coli. and Pseudomonas, Adenovirus through a process called oxidation. The lipids in the cell walls of the bacteria are attacked and the enzymes and structures inside the bacteria’s cell are destroyed by chlorine. Bacterias in swimming pools could cause pool users to have respiratory , intestinal and skin problems . Therefore, when chlorine is added into the swimming pool , the bacterias in the swimming pool become harmless to swimmers.

Even though using chlorine to clean swimming pools is beneficial to swimmers, it still carries a number of negative side effects to them. One of the side effects are, swimmers may have higher potential to develop asthma. Researches conducted by scientists have shown that people who regularly swim in chlorinated pools have increased number of their lung proteins in their blood which would elevate the chances of them getting asthma.

Other than that, chlorine in swimming pools can cause nausea and skin irritation to swimmers. There is one most shocking side effect of chlorine towards pool users, which is cancer. Eventhogh human skin acts as barrier to protect the body from chemical and toxic substances , the human skin has the ability to absorb the chlorine by-products leading them to into the body tissues. When excessive chlorine enters the body tissues, it mutates the cells causing them to become cancerous.

In conclusion, There are many myths saying that chlorine in swimming pools have potential healing abilities such as reducing acne and healing skin problems for swimmers. In actual fact, it might help for some people, but it brings more negative effects than positive effects to many people.