Ever wonder how much pee is in the pool you're swimming in? If not, sorry to bring it up. But a study was just done by researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada to determine the amount of tinkle in the average public swimming pool, and the results aren't pretty.
The researchers measured the amount of acesulfame-K (an artificial sweetener found in a lot of processed foods) they found in pool water to use as a urinary marker. According to the study, "The widespread consumption of acesulfame-K (ACE), a stable synthetic sweetener, and its complete excretion in urine, makes it an ideal urinary marker. Here we report the occurrence of ACE and its potential application in swimming pools and hot tubs."
Over three weeks, the researchers found 7.92 gallons of urine in the smaller pool that had 110,000 gallons of water. In the larger pool they found 19.8 gallons of urine in 220,000 gallons of water.
According to Today:
You're also going to want to keep your mouth closed while swimming or even hanging out in a hot tub. The researchers tested 250 samples from 31 other pools and hot tubs and found the ACE levels were 570 times higher than tap water.
Experts say that a strong smell of chlorine indicates a pool with a higher level of urine. When your eyes turn red from swimming in a community pool, it's not because of the chlorine.
"When we go swimming and we complain that our eyes are red, it’s because swimmers have peed in the water," Michele Hlavsa, chief of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s healthy swimming program, told TODAY in May. "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 chlorine mixed with poop and sweat and a lot of other things we bring into the water with us."
Is this kind of gross? Yes. Will it stop me from swimming in a public pool? Nope.
Photo: ABZ Private School
