How To Protect Yourself From Chlorinated Swimming Pools?

Just to quickly follow on from the last post where I talked about how to neutralise chlorinated water in your home - I wanted to address this separately.  As a child I grew up near the beach so we were always there, but there were many occasions when we would swim in chlorinated pools - be it for school swimming lessons, the neighbours pool etc. With this information on how harmful chlorine is, it causes a conflict because swimming pools are so much fun especially for kids - I have so many memories of basically living in the pool as a child and I wouldn't want to take that away from my children.  So what to do?

Well the first and best option is always the beach, lakes, rivers etc.  The next best option is a salt water pool.  Finally with chlorinated pools the best option is outdoor pools rather than indoor as at least the harmful chlorine vapors are dissipated into the fresh air.

I came across a blog about this that I wanted to share with you as this lady shares some great info on how to protect yourself and children if you/they swim in a chlorinated pool.  She also utilises vitamin c putting it in a spray bottle as part of the protocol, great ideas... but I'll let you read it yourself

Four Cheap and Easy Ways to Protect Against Swimming Pool Chemicals

Hope that helps!

The Dangers of Chlorinated Water in Your Home

I have been aware of the importance of filtering water in the home for a while I guess,  the whole shower filter thing has been on the wish list but not quite made it to the point where I purchase it just due to other priorities.  However an article caught my attention recently claiming that chlorine actually destroys gut bacteria/flora and that showering in hot water that is chlorinated almost makes it pointless filtering your drinking water as your body absorbs far more chlorine into your bloodstream through the shower anyway - which goes on to affect gut flora, which as we know equals compromising our entire immune system!

This is the article I read here

Being 9 months pregnant currently and planning on having a water birth AND with being aware of the importance of building the baby's immunity through my intake of probiotics etc this information came as a wake up call.  I've been reading so much about the importance of gut flora especially for newborns to establish a good strong immune system for them and protect them not just now but in the future too and have been really careful to include probiotics in my diet for this purpose, that the thought that I would be compromising this even in the birthing pool for our child was not what I wanted to hear.  So I took to the computer for a few solid hours of deep research. With limited funds right now, as much as I would love to buy a whole house filtration system and then have filters at every tap to be doubly sure, I knew it just wasn't going to be a possibility for us right now.  Also I realise that there are a lot of things to be filtered from our water, not just chlorine, there's fluoride, chloramines, hormones, radiation, pesticides and so on.  One day when I am able I will get to dealing with all that, but right now my focus is on chlorine and chloramines.

I am happy to say I stumbled upon a ton of research in lots of different places saying that good ole ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and also sodium ascorbate - both neutralise chlorine and chloramines out of water.  In fact city councils use and have used this method for years when treating water and returning it to the ocean,  pet stores use it for fish tanks as fish cannot survive is water treated in chlorine and it is just a well known fact in the whole pool world also.   The reason I am so happy about this information is that for now it gives me a cheap alternative to use just for now for peace of mind about the whole chlorine in the water issue particularly with a new baby

So, what do you do with it?  Whenever you have a bath just add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to your bath water and you're good to go!  Apparently 1 gram neutralises 100 grams of chlorinated water.   If you feel so inspired you could also add a pinch to your laundry - will probably help your clothes last longer without having the influence of chlorine in there too.  I will be adding some to the birthing pool - such an easy solution.

If you want to take it a step further to the shower, I found a company called Vitashower and they make a shower filter that filters the water through vitamin c and get this, it's only currently a little over $20 on Amazon! and apparently lasts for 6 months.  This is for me, a far cry cheaper than the ones I'd previously been looking at over $100.  I realise this only filters the chlorine and chloramines, however anything is better than nothing right now.  I have purchased this from Amazon and it is yet to arrive but I will update and let you know how we find it.  The majority of reviews on it on Amazon are very good so I'm looking forward to trying it out, plus the peace of mind side of it as well.

At the beginning of this note I mentioned Ascorbic Acid but also Sodium Ascorbate as another version.  Apparently Ascorbic Acid being an acid if used in great quantities can lower the natural PH of your skin - however it takes a LOT to do that.  Sodium Ascorbate in any quantity does not affect natural PH levels at all.  Both Ascorbic Acid and Sodium Ascorbate are 100% healthy and safe as it's just vitamin C and is actually good for your body, so you'll get the added benefits of that as well.

One other thing to be aware of that was brought to my attention, however I haven't looked into it extensively - someone mentioned on a board somewhere about the necessity of finding GMO free ascorbic acid.  I asked at the local health store today and they didn't think that it was sourced from anything genetically modified to start with?  So I'm not sure on that one.  That's research for another day. For now I just found some ascorbic acid on amazon and will go with that.

One step at a time huh!  I'll keep you updated!

Enjoy your week!