Children who swam at least 125 hours in a chlorinated pool before the age of 7 were three times more likely to have fertility problems in adulthood, according to a study published in the Journal of Andrology.
According to researchers the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, human contaminants (sunscreen, sweat, hair, makeup, and urine, etc.) can all be found in any public pool, and they combine with chlorine to form chloramines, and that is what you typically smell entering a pool area.
Outdoor pools allow these byproducts to dissipate, but enclosed pools mean these volatile chemicals are transferred from water to air with every splash. Without good ventilation, they remain in the air for quite some time.
Following research with animals, scientists conducted blood tests on three groups of adolescents aged 14 to 18, two groups swam regularly in a chorine pools and one group did not.
The results showed that most hormones tested normal, however two were significantly different, testosterone and inhibin B, both indicators of sperm count and mobility. These data are important, given that for 10 percent of adults with fertility problems, there is a deficit of inhibin B.
Lead researcher, Dr. Alfred Bernard, has also substantiated a link between childhood asthma and swimming in indoor chlorinated. Bernard’s 2007 study showed airway and lung changes in children who had participated in an infant swimming group.