Chlorine in Pools Increases Kids' Risk of Asthma

In a recent study, chlorine in swimming pools are found to increase the chances that a child will develop asthma or allergies.

According to the research, teenagers who were exposed to chlorinated pools for about 1,000 hours had more than eight times the risk of catching asthma as compared to those who regularly swam in pools using a copper-silver disinfecting method. Alfred Bernard, a professor of toxicology and research director at Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium and the lead author of the research, cited the importance of chlorine in disinfecting swimming pools but warned that too much of it could produce irritations in some organs.

"There is now increasing evidence that these irritating effects may be detrimental to the airways of regular swimmers, especially the children who are the most vulnerable and the most frequent attendees of chlorinated pools."

Health Day reports. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology around 17 million Americans suffer from asthma.