# Does urine in a pool have any health consequences?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 23, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149 "2013-01-23T20:50:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/1 "2013-01-23T20:50:34Z")
There is an active [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679934) in IMHO about peeing in pools. This question is on the specific health consequences of peeing in pools.
Are there any health consequences that can result from peeing in a pool, either to the person peeing or others who are in the pool or who later get in the pool? More specifically, are there either:
1. Specific cases where a doctor, medical examiner, or other health professional determined that a person came down with an illness or was injured _specifically due to them urinating in a pool or being exposed to someone else’s urine in a pool,_ where the person would have been significantly less likely to have acquired the medical condition had the peeing or exposure not taking place. That is, either the pee directly and exclusively caused the condition or was a material risk factor in combination with others such as genetic predisposition, existing illness, or other pool contaminants.
2. Medical literature indicating a theoretical (with pharmacological or other mechanism of action on the body described) or statistical link between pool pee and specific medical conditions. For example, “A study at Johns Hopkins found that test subjects who spent 30 minutes in a pool with 10ml of pee per gallon of water were 30% more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes and 15% more likely to develop Swimmer’s Ear than a control group who spent 30 minutes in a pool certified by the Department of Health as urine free.”
---
### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/2 "2013-01-23T21:03:16Z")
Public pools run high levels of chlorine for just this reason. Chlorine is an excellent bug killer.
To cover the next Q: You scoop out the feces and “shock” the pool - raise the chlorine levels to too-high-for-prolonged-contact and hold it there for 24 hours.
That treatment is how dark green pools turn bright and clear and sparkling in 24 hours.
Next Q: the chlorine will “burn off” in direct (or not-so-direct) sunlight - the chlorine levels will drop to safe shortly.
---
### Author:  [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/3 "2013-01-23T21:11:27Z")
I think you are more likely to have a problem in a public fountain, which people do play in but are not (necessarily) treated with chlorine like pools.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/4 "2013-01-23T21:15:30Z")
Peeing in the pool will raise nitrate and nitrite levels which is bad for any fish living in it.
---
### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/5 "2013-01-23T21:24:43Z")
Wikipedia’s article on [chloramines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Swimming_pool_disinfection)(formed by reaction between nitrogen-bearing organic molecules, including urine, and the chlorine) has two citations showing asthma and other respiratory problems caused by chloramines. Urine isn’t the only way to get chloramines in a pool, but it has to be a major contributor.
---
### Author:  [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/6 "2013-01-23T21:36:57Z")
Sense About Science, a UK group dedicated to increasing public knowledge about science, addressed this recently as part of their year-end roundup on “Celebrities and Science”. On page 6 of [this PDF](http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/Celebrities_and_Science_2012.pdf), they quote a biochemist as saying that it would be effectively harmless. However, this statement isn’t based on the results of a controlled study, but rather on the properties of fresh urine and the dilution factor.
---
### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/7 "2013-01-23T21:59:30Z")
Is the pool water clear or cloudy?
---
### Author:  [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/8 "2013-01-24T01:03:45Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> Wikipedia’s article on [chloramines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Swimming_pool_disinfection)(formed by reaction between nitrogen-bearing organic molecules, including urine, and the chlorine) has two citations showing asthma and other respiratory problems caused by chloramines. Urine isn’t the only way to get chloramines in a pool, but it has to be a major contributor.
See here [http://www.thepoolclinic.com/2011/04/18/chlorine/](http://www.thepoolclinic.com/2011/04/18/chlorine/)
Chloramines are what create that “Too much chlorine!” smell.
Those are also taken care of by shocking (or using an oxidizer).
---
### Author:  [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/9 "2013-01-24T03:08:46Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> Wikipedia’s article on [chloramines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Swimming_pool_disinfection)(formed by reaction between nitrogen-bearing organic molecules, including urine, and the chlorine) has two citations showing asthma and other respiratory problems caused by chloramines. Urine isn’t the only way to get chloramines in a pool, but it has to be a major contributor.
It should be noted that chloramines, as opposed to straight chlorine, are commonly used to disinfect drinking water (as Wikipedia states directly above the part of swimming pools); I doubt that urine would form any significant amounts compared to what comes out of the tap.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-urine-in-a-pool-have-any-health-consequences/648149/10 "2013-01-24T03:11:48Z")
If you’re standing at the edge while you’re peeing, you might have to worry about a broken bone or two…