How Hazardous Is Peeing in the Pool?

Urinating in chlorinated swimming pools isn't just sorta gross -- it's actually a health hazard. Learn why in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren boge ol bamb Here. With summer fast
approaching here in the United States, we need to talk
about swimming pools and the dirty secret of swimmers peeing
in the pool. It's not just gross, according to the
American Chemical Society, it's bad for our health. Research has

(00:23):
shown that there are about thirty to eighty million liters
of urine per person in public pools. That's about one
to three ounces, or about a shot glassful per person.
To counteract the urine and other stuff that winds up
in the water like sweat, saliva, dirt, and traces of
fecal matter, we add chemical disinfectants to keep pools clear
and clean and to keep us from picking up bugs
like salmonella and equally, and those disinfectants are doing their job,

(00:48):
but unfortunately that's not all they're doing. Those disinfectants can
react with urine, sweat, hair and body care products, and
other organic matter that winds up in pools and create
what researchers call dis infection by products or DBPs. These
byproducts can cause serious health concerns, especially for professional swimmers
and people who work around pools. Chronic inhalation of DBPs

(01:10):
can cause respiratory problems such as asthma and are the
main reason for the red burning eyes you may experience
in the pool. And the number one culprit is you
guessed it, urine, which causes half of the dvps found
in pools and the air around them. Urine contains uria,
a chemical that reacts with chlorine to form trichloramine, the
compound that makes a pool smell like a pool. You'll

(01:32):
never enjoy that smell again. It's also the one to
blame for eyeburn and respiratory issues, a real problem for
competitive swimmers who spend so much time in the water.
But cutting down on DBPs is tough, since urinating in
the pool is something almost everyone does. It's just easier
than getting out to take a leak, and people mistakenly
think the chlorine will just take care of it. Even

(01:53):
Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps and Ryan Locktey joke about
their pool peeing. Ernest Blatchley, and environmental engineer Purdue University,
said in an article in Chemical and Engineering News, high
profile swimmers have a real opportunity to take a position
of leadership and responsibility. The best thing that swimmers could
do to improve the swimming environment for themselves and for
everybody else who uses the pool is to practice common

(02:15):
sense hygiene. That means first, taking a shower before getting
into the pool to rinse off much of the dirt, sweat,
and lotion our bodies carry around. And second, but most important,
don't p in the pool. But what about the ocean?
Phish p there, so why not humans? Right? Well, you're
in luck. It's absolutely a okay to swim and p
with the fishes. Today's episode was written by Karen Kirkpatrick

(02:42):
and produced by Tyler Clang. The brain Stuff is a
production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on
this and lots of other sort of gross but important topics,
visit our home planet how stuff Works dot com. And
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