Go Greener Tips

div class=image style=float:right;padding-left:8px;img alt=image name height=235 src=http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/daily_green_news/daily_green_news-4569740-1242751958.jpg?ymWfHSBDxe1CUy5H width=300/br /em(Photo: Frank van den Bergh / iStockPhoto)/embr /br //divpChlorine, the chemical used to disinfect swimming pools, has already been linked to a href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/chlorine-pools-asthma-47093503asthma/a (spend more than an hour per week swimming, indoors or out, and a child’s risk of asthma increases 10-fold)./ppInhaling fumes is only one of the ways chlorine pool chemicals can cause health problems, as a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a href=http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5818a1.htm?s_cid=mm5818a1_x target=_blankreport/a demonstrates./ppIn the past 20+ years in New York, one of the few states that requires reporting of health incidents at public pools, the vast majority (94%) of reported illnesses were respiratory. Most of these incidents were caused by the mixing of chlorine with an acid, which creates highly hazardous chlorine gas./ppNationally, more than 4,000 cases of pool-chemical illness have been reported annually to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the past decade, with roughly one-third reporting respiratory symptoms and 19% reporting eye irritation. Poison Control Centers receive many more complaints: more than 9,500 in 2007 alone, with two in every five cases involving children under the age of 6./ppThe CDC report emphasizes that these incidents can be prevented with proper storage and handling of chemicals, and with proper education of pool workers and bathers:/pblockquotepThe [New York State Department of Health] reports illustrate that these health events at public aquatic venues can injure a large number of persons and likely are preventable through appropriate education and training (e.g., instructing persons to never mix chlorine products with acid). Previous studies underscore that requiring pool operator training can reduce the number of water-quality violations. Future prevention efforts should require training for all public pool operators. The disproportionate (86%) number of pool chemical-associated health events occurring in settings where pools were not the primary focus (e.g., schools or hotels) specifically calls for emphasizing training efforts in these settings. Additionally, because at least 43% of [hospital emergency department]-treated, pool chemical-associated injuries occurred at a residence, messages about safe chemical handling and storage, particularly the use of personal protective equipment (e.g., safety glasses and appropriate masks), also should target residential pool owners./p/blockquotepThe report’s findings also, however, underscore the inherent toxicity of pool disinfection chemicals./ppIf you’re installing a pool, consider a a href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/natural-swimming-pools-460908 target=_newnatural pool/a./pp /ppstrongMore from The Daily Green/strong/pullia href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/natural-swimming-pools-460908?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdg23 Breathtaking Natural Swimming Pools/a/lilia href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/indoor-air-pollution-47020404?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgSix Surprising Sources of Indoor Air Pollution/a/lilia href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/indoor-air-quality-47020101?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgHow to Purify the Air in Your Home/a/lilia href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/5288?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgSchool Bus Pollution: Hidden Danger to Kids/a/lilia href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/green-cleaning-spring-cleaning-460303?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgDIY Nontoxic Cleaning Recipes/a/li/ulpemReprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc/em/p

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