Do you think you know why your eyes turn red after a day of swimming? The answer is grosser than you think and might make you think twice about heading to the pool this summer.
For their annual Healthy Swimming Program, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) teamed with Water Quality and the Health Council and the National Swimming Pool Foundation to educate Americans about the dangers of pools and how to stay healthy when swimming, according to Women’s Health.
“We think that swimming is a really fantastic activity,” said Michael J. Beach, Ph.D., associate director of the CDC’s Healthy Water program. “We want to keep it that way.”
One of the most shocking revelations the CDC shared was the truth behind what causes your eyes to become red and irritated after swimming in the pool. And it’s not the chlorine.
“It’s quite the opposite,” said Beach. “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 the sweat.”
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