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Summer Is Ruined: Researchers Say Pee Makes Your Eyes Red In The Pool

by Eitan Levine

Aaaaaand I'm never going swimming again.

Researchers are saying those red eyes you get from the pool are not from the chlorine; they're from all that sweet, sweet urine wafting around in the water.

In fact, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Water Quality and Health Council and the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) decided urinating in pools is such a major issue, they need a marketing campaign to educate people on this ongoing pee problem.

The campaign says 71 percent of surveyed Americans incorrectly think getting red eyes from pool water is because of chlorine and not urine.

Nearly half of those surveyed also believe there is a chemical in the water that changes color if someone urinates in the pool.

The CDC's Michele Hlavsa warns chemicals in a pool are made to combat germs, and urine actually hurts the chlorine's effectiveness in fighting those germs.

Not that she should have to specify, but Hlavsa says if you have to urinate while in a pool, then you should go to a bathroom and not just use the pool as a personal Foley catheter.

If you don't know what that is, trust me, don't look it up.

She said,

Swimmers should use the pool to swim, the restroom to pee and the showers to wash up before getting in the pool.

Yeah, no sh*t -- another rule you should definitely follow when in a pool.

Citations: Why Your Eyes Really Go Red in The Swimming Pool Researchers Warn URINE Not Chlorine Causes Reaction (Daily Mail)