The American Journal of Epidemiology and other well noted medical authorities have discovered that exposure to artificially chlorinated water found in pools and spas can contribute to health problems.
What Is Known:
1. Swimmers absorb toxic levels of chlorine products in the course of a training session.
2. Training two or more times a day will not allow the toxins to be completely cleared from the body in most swimmers.
3. Young children absorb relatively greater amounts of toxins than older swimmers and are therefore at greater risk.
4. In hyper-chlorinated pools even dental enamel can be eroded because of the increased acidity in swimmers in training.
5. Greater toxin absorption occurs through the skin than through breathing. However, the breathing action alone is sufficient to cause hypersensitivity and “asthma-like” respiratory conditions in at least some swimmers.
Chlorine, a chemical used to treat water in swimming pools, is increasingly coming under fire for the carcinogenic by-products it leaves in water. Colloidal silver offers a healthy alternative. In fact, the Ancient Phoenicians, who stored wine in silver urns to preserve it, provide one of the earliest recorded examples of the metal’s use for water purification.
The quest for healthful, odor-free swimming pools began in the 1930s. The discovery that silver and copper ions generated by a mild electric current would adequately sanitize private swimming pools led to serious interest in silver sanitation. New research into silver compounds is providing physicians with powerful, clinically effective treatments against which bacteria cannot develop resistance.
Hundreds of thousands of satisfied swimming pool users worldwide enjoy safe, healthful silver-based swimming pool systems. Owners of silver-based sanitation systems are enthusiastic because there is: 1) no caustic odor; 2) no corrosion of nearby metals; 3) no staining of the skin and bleaching of clothing; 4) less cost than chlorine chemicals;
5) no evaporation of silver from the pool to leave the pool waters unprotected (during winter, for example); 6) control of algae growth and; 7) no formation of unwanted compounds. Note that chlorine reacts with organic matter such as decaying leaves in outdoor pools to form chlorine compounds such as trihalomethanes, including chloroform, a cancer-risk compound.
Silver-based sanitation systems offer a healthful alternative to caustic and odoriferous chlorine, which is especially welcome to indoor pool owners. Being chlorine free, silver systems are of special value not only to those who are allergic to chlorine and to athletes who require long hours of swimming and diving practice, but to the physically impaired who require extended therapeutic immersion in pools.
Ozone vs Chlorine
Over the past couple of decades the technology for ozone application in the areas of sanitizing liquid streams has experienced tremendous strides both in effectiveness and cost reduction (installation and operation). There is a movement from chlorine usage to ozone application in both municipal water supply and wastewater treatment areas. The known hazards of using chlorine dictate the pursuit of other methods of achieving the same sanitizing results.
It is important to note that swimming in chlorinated pools and spas exposes us to large amounts of toxins that may even exceed those that are eaten. The skin is an extremely absorbent surface. During the course of a 5 minute shower the skin may soak up as much as a quart of fluid. In essence, we do eat through our skin so it is imperative to take the proper precautions around chemically treated bathing areas.
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