Things aren’t always as they seem. That swimming pool may look invitingly refreshing or that hot tub might appear enticingly invigorating but the very substances used to clean that pool or tub could actually be causing mutations in your genes.
We know that chlorine and other substances used to disinfect pools react with things like human sweat and urine to form disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and we know that exposure to DBPs has been linked to conditions like asthma and even bladder cancer. So these researchers wanted to see whether these DBPs could alter DNA.
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To do this they analysed 28 water samples taken from public swimming pools and hot tubs both before and after intense use. The pools and tubs had been disinfected using chlorine, bromine, ozone, or ozone-chlorine. The tap water used to fill the pools and tubs was also tested. All samples were then tested to see how much mutation they would cause in human DNA.
The analysis showed that compared with the original tap water the water from swimming pools was 2.4 times more mutagenic and the water from hot tubs was 4.1 times more mutagenic.
This does not say anything about how much exposure would be needed to have negative effects in humans but it makes you realise the “gene pool” is not so safe after all.
