The real reason pool water makes your eyes sting is not what you think and it's terrifying

Best fetch yourself a towel before you start reading this - you're about to come over feeling ruinously soiled.

Dr. Michael J. Beach, associate director of the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Water programme, has sent shudders across the internet with a claim reported by Action Four News. 

The real reason your eyes turn red and sting after a session in the local pool isn't purely down to its chlorine content - it's due to what the chlorine has reacted with.

"Chlorine binds with all the things it’s trying to kill from your bodies, and it forms these chemical irritants," explains Beach. "That’s what’s stinging your eyes. It’s the chlorine binding to the urine and sweat."

The chemists among you will probably have known this dirty little fact for quite some time: when chlorine binds with organic material and bacteria - the stuff it's in the water to kill off and keep you from swallowing - it creates chloramine. It's this that's responsible for the familiar smell that accompanies public pools and a reddening of the eye.

So how do you prevent getting a nasty sting from pool water? By doing what you've been told since you were a kid - wear goggles and shower before entering. No matter what your daily ablutions are, your body is covered in dead skin, sweat, urine and worse. By showering before swimming, you'll help get rid of some of the organic grime that ruins pools for everyone. So good job on that.

Oh yeah, and stop peeing in the pool. You monster.

(Image: Shutterstock)

[Via: Independent]