Practically everyone has felt the irritating sensation of their eyes burning or stinging when swimming.  This pain is almost always attributed to chlorine levels in the pool being too high.  The reason this is the predominant line of thought is that eye pain while swimming is almost always accompanied by the caustic smell commonly associated with chlorine.  However, high levels of chlorine are not technically the cause for eye irritation in swimming pools.  So, what makes your eyes hurt when swimming?  The answer is chloramines.

Chloramines are a byproduct of chlorine and other substances, such as sweat, in a pool.  When chlorine levels are too low, they do not burn off the chloramines, and the caustic smell and stinging eyes result.  Another reason irritating, high levels of chloramines exist in some pools while not in others is improper air quality or ventilation.  In an indoor pool, the culprit could be a lack of proper air movement across the water to bring in fresh air and remove chloramines.  In an outdoor pool, very poor air quality could be trapping chloramines near the pool surface as well.  High levels of contaminants, such as sweat, urine, and other substances can also trigger a release of chloramines.  This is why most public pools request that you shower prior to entering the pool.

As the levels of chloramines go up, the level of chlorine goes down.  As a result, when you have burning or stinging eyes in a swimming pool, the chlorine level may actually be too low rather than too high.  To control chloramine levels, pool owners should maintain good ventilation, proper chlorine levels, enter the pool clean, and refrain from improper pool behavior (like urinating in the pool).  The chlorine disinfecting process is the most common way to keep a pool safe and sanitary in the United States.  However, salt water pools are becoming more and more common.  Salt water pools, contrary to popular belief, actually do have chlorine in them.  These pools actually use a salt water chlorination system, in which the salt is broken down into a form of chlorine to disinfect.  What the pools lack are chloramines, so the caustic smell and eye irritation is not present in salt water pools. 

If you have red, irritated eyes from swimming in a pool with high chloramine levels, you can help to soothe the hurting sensation by flushing your eyes with clean, room-temperature water from a sink or bottle water.  After the flushing process, eye drops for redness and irritation can be used.

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