Indoor Pool Air May Harm Kids' Lung Cells

[Placebo]

Children who make regular visits to an indoor pool may develop damage to a type of lung cell that helps prevent airway inflammation, a new study suggests.

The researchers speculate that repeated exposure to chlorine byproducts in the air around indoor pools may harm these respiratory cells, known as Clara cells.

A number of past studies have found elevated rates of airway inflammation and asthma among competitive swimmers, with researchers attributing it to inhalation of chlorine gas and its byproducts. In addition, research has suggested that trained swimmers may have poorer Clara cell function.

"We suspect that chlorinated compounds in the air of swimming pools may influence the lungs and airways so that the children might have an increased risk for getting asthma," Dr. Birgitta Json Lagerkvist, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

More research, however, is needed to confirm that suspicion, said Lagerkvist, of Umea University in Sweden. Children in this study, she added, showed normal lung function, regardless of their pool use.

Lagerkvist said she would not advise parents against taking their children to swimming pools based only her team's study.

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