Red Eyes in Swimming Pools Caused by Urine & Not Chlorine, CDC Confirms

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The red eyes you get from swimming in pools is from urine, not chlorine, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms.

"Chlorine binds with all the things it's trying to kill from your bodies, and it forms these chemical irritants. That's what's stinging your eyes. It's the chlorine binding to the urine and sweat," Dr Michael J Beach, associate director of CDC's Prevention's Healthy Water Program, told Action Four News.

Another example of what happens when chlorine binds to urine and sweat in pool is that it produces a chemical reaction that irritates the lungs and makes you cough, according to Women's Health Magazine.

As for the rumors that there's a chemical substance mixed in the pools to reveal urinating offenders, it is not true.

"It's a myth. It's about scaring people into not urinating in the pool," Beach added.

There has been a surge in disease outbreaks in local swimming pools thanks to adults, children, or babies swimming while having diarrhea, said Beach. According to AOL, those with the condition don't necessarily have to directly defecate in the pool in order to infect others. Having the germs present in their body while swimming is enough to spread the disease which is why it is recommended to shower first before getting in the water.

"We have a new parasitic germ that has emerged that's immune to chlorine," Beach said. "We've got to keep it out of the pool in the first place. We need additional barriers."

The belief that chlorine completely eliminates any and all germs is not true. While E.coli can be killed in less than a minute and Hepatitis in 16 minutes, there are a few parasites that can live on stagnant pool water for days.

During the hot summer months, tourists and locals abound the local swimming pools. According to a poll by Travel Zoo via Metro, among Americans, Brits, Chinese, Canadians and German travelers, Americans are the worst sea & pool peeing offenders.

When the participants were asked if they would relieve themselves in the pool or the sea on holidays, more than half (64 percent) of Americans confessed that they do. This was followed by Canadians (58 percent), Brits (46 percent), Germans (44 percent), and Chinese (41percent).

There are precautions to protect yourself against Recreational Water Illnesses (RWIs), according to the CDC. Some measures include showering before swimming, avoiding swimming while having diarrhea, not peeing or defecating in the water and not swallowing the water.