Confirmation of the deleterious effect on the lungs of a derivative of chlorine used in the pool

The deleterious effect of a product formed from the chlorine used in pools on the lungs is confirmed in competitive swimmers who are at increased risk of respiratory symptoms, shows a Belgian study presented at the European Respiratory Society ( ERS), which was held in Glasgow (Scotland).

Chloramines are the result of the chemical combination of chlorine and various polluting plant proteins introduced into the body, such as sweat and urine. These substances, some of which are highly volatile, which irritate the eyes and are responsible for the characteristic odor of the pools.

The risk associated with chloramines, especially trichloramine, emerged with the description of the first three cases of occupational asthma in lifeguards and lifeguards in swimming pool, do you remember.

Trichloramine has joined the list of substances suspected to participate in the development of asthma and explain, with other factors, the increased prevalence of this disease observed over the past thirty years in industrialized countries.

A Belgian team of the Catholic University of Louvain and had shown an association between the use of indoor swimming pools and the risk of asthma in children.

The same team, coordinated by Sylviane Carbonnelle, assessed respiratory symptoms in young competitive swimmers (mean age 15 years), 39 practicing in a chlorinated pool and 24 closed in a pool without chlorine, but treated with a mixture Copper and silver.

None of them smoked, the researchers said.

Trichloramine was found in the air of the chlorinated pool at a concentration of 0.3 to 0.5 mg/m3 while it was undetectable in the pool without chlorine.

Tests assessing lung function were performed at least 24 hours after the last training session, taking into account the fact that swimmers resulting in non-chlorinated pool had attended chlorinated pools.

The results show a link between the cumulative presence in a chlorinated pool and an increased risk of respiratory symptoms (risk multiplied by 2.29 to 1,000 hours of training) and an increase in the rate of nitric oxide in the exhaled air (eNO), a marker of airway inflammation (risk multiplied by 1.59.)

In contrast, training in a non-chlorinated pool was not associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms or an increase in eNO levels.