Swimming pools – the hidden asthma risk

[20 September 2007 - 12h13]
[mis à jour le 20 September 2007 à 14h13]

According to two studies presented at the 17th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society in Stockholm (Sweden), regular visits to swimming pools treated with chlorine could increase the risk of developing asthma. Staff working at such establishments are, of course, most at risk but it also poses a risk to children and adolescents.

A research team from the University of Genoa in Italy, monitored 30 swimmers with an average age of 14 who regularly used indoor pools and none of whom was asthmatic. The researchers measured their sensitivity to traditional aero-allergens and tested them for the presence of any bronchial hyper-reactivity – both factors generally considered to be predictors for asthma.

Over seven out of ten of the youngsters showed sensitisation to aero-allergens, that is to say twice as many as are found among the general public. And more than half of them suffered from bronchial hyper-reactivity. “We think that repeated exposure to high concentrations of chlorine in the six centimetres above the surface of the water damages the respiratory tract”, the researchers suggest.

The other study, conducted by Belgian researchers from the University of Louvain, reached the same conclusions. In this particular case the swimming pools were open air. Specialists had thought that the risk of asthma associated with chlorinated swimming pools applied to indoor pools only. By comparing adolescents who had never used swimming pools treated with chlorine, Professor Marc Nickmilder showed that the risk of asthma was three times higher among youngsters accustomed to swimming in chlorinated pools, regardless of whether these were open air or indoor…

Source : 17th Congress of the European Respiratory Society, 15-19 September 2007, Stockholm

© 1996-2012 Destination Santé SAS - All Rights Reserved. No information contained on this server can be reproduced or retransmitted without prior written consent of Destination Santé. Offenders will be prosecuted in consideration of articles L 122-4 and L 335-3 of the Code of Intellectual Property, allowing up to two years' imprisonment and a 150,000 euros fine.