It's not the chlorine making your eyes red when you go for a dip in the pool according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC's annual healthy swimming guide reports that the reason your eyes get red and sting is the chemicals that form when chlorine mixes with pee, poop, sweat and dirt from swimmers' bodies. Yuck!
Officials from the CDC say the stronger the chlorine smell at a pool, the more filled with pee it is. Healthy pools don't smell like chemicals.
Experts recommend showering for one minute before getting into the water, taking a break from the water every hour for bathroom breaks and to reapply sunscreen.
Some of the CDC's tips seem like no-brainers, but they're important to keep in mind:
Don't swallow the water.
Don't poop or pee in the water.
If you have diarrhea or a bowel problem, stay out of the water.
Check swim diapers and swim pants regularly, they are not leak proof.
You might think chlorine is enough to keep pools sanitary, but the chemicals are busy fighting germs. When pee, poop, sweat and dirt enter the water, chemicals break down these things instead of killing germs. This uses up the chemicals' power, which means there's less to kill germs.
