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Peeing in the Pool can Kill You

We know you’ve done it at least once – everyone has pee’d in the pool at least once in their life.

Of course, this is more expected with children and others who have less control of their bathroom habits, but we’re sure that there are one or a dozen adults out there who have peed in the pool – on purpose – on some drunken night.

Heck, we’re fairly certain we saw one of the contestants on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette pee in the hot tub on an episode.  We definitely remember seeing it happen in MTV’s The Real World hot tub, as well as on CBS’s Big Brother.  And Michael Phelps did say that “all Olympic swimmers pee in the pool… all the time!”

If an Olympic athlete will pee in the pool, then how bad could it be for the rest of us?

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But did you know that YOU CAN DIE IF YOU PEE IN THE POOL?  Seriously – pee in the pool is no laughing matter anymore.

A recent study reported ni the ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL released by the American Chemical Society says that there is a definite issue with the interaction between urine and the chlorine typically used to keep your pool sparkling clear and safe.

What they found was that uric acid – which is in your urine (and, in some degree, from your sweat as well) doesn’t combine well with chlorine, resulting in two new chemicals — trichloramine (NCl3) and cyanogen chloride (CNCl) — both of which can affect a combination of the lungs, heart, and central nervous system.

So how dangerous is this really?  Well, for outdoor pools, this may not be that bad.  The chemicals can’t adversely affect air quality outdoors to such an extent that there can be any direct cause-and-effect seen.  But for indoor pools – if there isn’t adequate ventilation, there is a potential of long-term problems for frequent pool visitors.

Of course, there is a solution to this.  Stop peeing in the pool. Save your friends, save your families.