The New York Times has a story on swimmers’ respiratory health, which in many cases isn’t as good as you’d think.

Is chlorine to blame? The chemical disinfectant, source of the distinctive, pungent, swimming-pool smell, is lethal in large amounts. But it’s not just chlorine “that is the issue,” says Dr. Louis-Philippe Boulet, a professor of medicine at the Quebec Heart & Lung Institute, and the author of multiple studies of swimmers’ lungs. Instead, problems arise when chlorine mixes with proteins in the water, such as shredded skin or hair, creating chloramines. The more chlorine and the more protein you have in a pool the more chloramines. These toxic byproducts tend to settle just above the water’s surface — where swimmers breathe — and are inhaled deep into the lungs. “There are increasing numbers of studies that suggest that exposure to chloramines may have a major effect on bronchial health,” Boulet says.

The evidence doesn’t seem strong enough to make anyone give up swimming, but maybe instead of driving to Mary T. for indoor pool fun, concerned residents of areas with closed pools will look for an outdoor pool or a splash park, even though sacrifices are involved with both.

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