Ever wonder why our eyes turn red after we swim in a pool? I always assumed it was the chlorine; I think its safe to say that’s what most people think. The assumption is, the more chlorinated the pool water, the more irritated our eyes become. This is actually far from the vile truth.Most-Effective-Way-to-Get-Served-at-One-of-the-Busy-Vegas-Pool-Parties

Today.com announced that “the Center for Disease Conrol (CDC) has released its annual healthy swimming report.” What was discovered is sure to leave everyone shocked, and very disgusted. “”When we go swimming and we complain that our eyes are red, it’s because swimmers have peed in the water,” says Michele Hlavsa, chief of the CDC’s healthy swimming program. “The nitrogen in the urine combines with the chlorine and it forms what’s known as chloramine and it’s actually chloramine that causes the red eyes. It’s not the chlorine itself. It’s chlorine mixed with poop and sweat and a lot of other things we bring into the water with us.”” So as it turns out, the redder our eyes are, the filthier the water is.

We all have child hood memories of going swimming with friends and leaving feeling satisfied and smelling like chlorine. Well, that smell isn’t really chlorine. In fact, the Huffington Post declares that chlorine doesn’t even have a smell. “A good healthy pool does not smell, despite what most of us would like to believe.” That beloved pool smell is caused by chloramines, which like previously stated, is the mixture of chlorine with substances like urine, body oils, makeup, and fecal matter.

But why is this happening? Shouldn’t it be the chlorine’s job to clean all of these impurities out of the water? This article states that it’s simply too much for chlorine to take care of. “Anyone thinking chlorine’s job is to clean their personal pee from a swimming pool, should know that chlorine can’t even begin to deal with your pee. Its plate is full with E. coli and other germs. Once people start adding pee, poop, sweat, and dirt to the equation, it starts to try to tackle those instead, leaving it with little energy for anything else”. The chemical simply wasn’t made to filter feces from the water, because no one should be peeing in the pool in the first place. It seems to be that the more public the pool, and the more people mixing their germs in the same area, the more irritated your eyes get. I got the idea from one of my favorite YouTubers who mentioned her Vegas pool party trip. She drunkenly dunked her head in the nasty pool water and she claims that her eyes were bright red and they hurt for 2 days. Pretty nasty. Hopefully we can keep these disturbing facts in mind next time we go swimming. Now I know I’m never putting pool water in my mouth again.

2 thoughts on “Why Do Pools Make Our Eyes Red?

  1. czc5448

    This is pretty gross. I thought it was always chlorine as well and never really thought about all the other germs and stuff that play into making our eyes red. I do think chlorine plays a big part in causing our eyes to get red however. I have experienced getting really red eyes when the pool is more chlorinated vs a pool that is not as chlorinated. And chlorine does have a pretty distinct smell. Not to say that the other factors you mentioned definitely make sense for making our eyes red when we swim. That is something I will think about when I go in a pool again.

  2. Meghan Kelly Shiels

    That is disgusting. I always thought it was chlorine that hurt my eyes but I guess not. This made me wonder if different types of chemicals would be better for pool use. I know that there are natural “swimming ponds” like this one. It seems like this could be a feasible plan for a home system, but probably not for a public pool. Thoughts?

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