Avoid Swimming Pools if You Have Allergies or Asthma

Swimming in a chlorinated pool may boost the odds that a child susceptible to asthma and allergies will develop these problems.

Chlorinated pools irritate the airways of swimmers, exerting a strong additive effect on the development of asthma and respiratory allergies such as hay fever and allergic rhinitis.

The impact of chlorinated pools on the respiratory health of children and adolescents appears to be much more important -- at least by a factor of five -- than that associated with secondhand smoke.

Source: MSNBC September 15, 2009