Having bloodshot eyes after swimming is not as a result of chlorine but is in fact caused by urine contained in the pool, although according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But how you might ask? Urine in itself isn’t harmful right?

Well it’s all due to the fact that Chlorine binds with all the thing it’s trying to kill from your bodies, as a result it will form chemical irritants that are causing those bloodshot eyes. It’s the chlorine binding to the urine and sweat. But as toxicologist Alfred Bernard from the University of Leuven, Belgium, states:

And these chloramines are the culprits, they are the reason why your eyes go red or cause an irritated skin. Furthermore, you can easily identify these chemicals when you are at an indoor swimming pool: they are also causing the typical indoor swimming pool atmosphere.

But what about too much chlorine in the swimming pool that is causing red eyes? Well the amount of chlorine that is laid down by law is about 0.5 milligram per liter of water. Furthermore, the amount of chlorine is in most swimming pools automatically regulated and is also manually checked several times a day in most situations. From this perspective we can state that the probability that there is too much chlorine in the water is rather small.