Don't pee in the pool. It's gross, but also dangerous to your heart and lungs | Fact check
The claim: Urinating in a pool is dangerous for your heart and lungs
An April 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) warns about inappropriate behavior in swimming pools.
“Urinating in a pool is dangerous for your heart? Urine and chlorine create dangerous chemicals when combined,” the post reads. “One of those chemicals, cyanogen chloride is classified as a chemical warfare agent and can damage your heart and lungs.”
The post was shared more than 400 times in a week.
More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page
Our rating: True
Experts say urine mixes with chlorine to create toxic chemicals that can harm internal organs. However, experts said the level of risk depends on the amount of harmful chemicals in the pool.
Urine combined with pool chemicals poses risk
Using a pool as a toilet is a bad idea on multiple fronts, though serious health consequences are unlikely with limited exposure, experts say.
A 2014 study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal found uric acid in urine mixes with chlorine in pool water to create toxic cyanogen chloride and trichloramine. Cyanogen chloride “can affect multiple organs, including the lungs, heart and central nervous system via inhalation,” and trichloramine “has been associated with acute lung injury in accidental, occupational or recreational exposures to chlorine-based disinfectants,” the study said.
And cyanogen chloride is indeed used as a chemical warfare agent, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Ernest Blatchley, co-author of the study and an environmental engineering professor at Purdue University, told USA TODAY that both chemical compounds escape from the liquid into the air, which is how humans inhale them. Blatchley said it’s typical to see adverse health effects from the compounds in the respiratory system, but other organs can be affected too.
“It is possible to see effects in other organs if these chemicals are transferred from the lungs to the blood supply, then circulated,” Blatchley said. “The potential exists for acute effects and chronic effects. Both have been documented in swimmers.”
Fact check: Video shows De Niro rehearsing for show, not yelling at anti-Israel protesters
The amount of toxic exposure in the air around a pool can only be estimated, said Ludmilla Aristilde, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University. She said that while the combination of certain pool chemicals and urine is dangerous, it would be rare for a person to have an acute reaction after one exposure.
“Only in rare occasions would a one-time exposure of any contaminant cause such an acute toxicological effect, unless there is a very high-dose exposure or the contaminant is highly toxic that a very small dose is consequential,” Aristilde said.
Blatchley said it is important to shower before getting in a pool to prevent these chemicals from forming. He also reiterated that people should get out of the pool to pee.
Aristilde suggested swimming in outdoor pools where wind flow helps the toxic compounds escape and warned against high-traffic pools where hygiene is not regulated.
“Swimming for less than 30 minutes in such pools might be advisable,” she said.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
Ernest Blatchley, May 1, Phone interview and email exchange with USA TODAY
Ludmilla Aristilde, May 1-3, Email exchange with USA TODAY
ACS Publications, Feb. 25, 2014, Volatile Disinfection Byproducts Resulting from Chlorination of Uric Acid: Implications for Swimming Pools
National Institutes of Health, accessed May 3, Cyanogen chloride
ACS, Aug. 30, 2016, Molecule of the Week Archive: Trichloramine
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.
USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mix of urine, chlorine in pools forms dangerous chemicals | Fact check
