I always thought saltwater pools were better for your skin, better for baby and just healthier overall. So when we first took Evan and Cole in the water, we believed a saltwater pool was best. Seems they are becoming more popular nowadays, with many condos are converting their chlorine pools to saltwater. But, I didn’t want to give you misinformation, so I just did a quick internet search on the topic and found that
- Salt-water pools are NOT chlorine free pools. A salt-water pool is simply one that utilizes a chlorine generator. Chlorine generators have been around for decades. In a salt-water pool (with a chlorine generator) the water feels smooth, your skin feels smooth and many people feel more refreshed.
- There are credible researchers saying that chlorine has some very serious health consequences when used as a sanitizer in swimming pools. Chlorine byproducts found in swimming pools are linked to higher incidences of asthma, lung damage, stillbirths, miscarriages and bladder cancer. One researcher noted that 10-year-old children spending an average of 1.8 hours per week in an indoor swimming pool environment suffered lung damage she would expect to see in an adult smoker. The most obvious and instant signs of high exposure to these chemicals is red eyes, rashes and other skin irritations or problems.
- When any type of chlorine is added to water it ALL makes the SAME thing: Hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is the active sanitizer; this is what kills algae and other harmful stuff in the water. In North America, chemicals were adopted wholeheartedly around the turn of the century as the answer to the larger, more expensive European models of water treatment. Engineers here found they could build water treatment plants and swimming pools at greatly reduced capital costs if they used what was then considered miraculous chemicals to treat water. And, for the most part, the systems did what they were designed to do and that was to kill micro-organisms that could lead to sickness and death. What they didn't anticipate was that chemicals like chlorine would have very serious byproducts that become health hazards themselves.
- There viable alternatives to chlorine (i.e. ozone and ultraviolet technologies), but why hasn't the swimming pool industry adopted alternative technologies on a much more industry-wide basis? Of course there’s a higher initial capital cost to the swimming pool compared to chlorine. Also the engineers, architects, pool builders and designers are not familiar with the technology.
Seems this is yet another case of the good ol’ US dollar being the bottom line. It doesn’t pay to stop people from swimming and drinking harmful chemicals. It pays to stick with the status quo and pray nobody knows the difference. Sorry to be such a downer. I really wanted to believe saltwater pools were healthy and safe. They are the lesser of the two evils, but in the end, when given the choice, you and baby should SWIM IN THE OCEAN! Especially if you live in Hawaii—sheesh!
