Michael Phelps' Olympics performance might have inspired folks to keep swimming just a little bit longer this year — but, please, get out of the pool to pee. Peeing in the water has long been the dirty little secret of swimmers, but, it's not just gross. The latest episode of the American Chemical Society's Reactions series tells us it's also bad for our health. Scientists have known for some time that there are about 30 to 80 mL of urine per person in public pools. That's about a shot glass full for each yum?
There's a New Test for Pee in Pools, and It Is Sweet
Urine-indicator dye - Wikipedia
Little Johnny was approached by the lifeguard at the public swimming pool. Currently 5. Short jokes. Pee in the pool Joke Source: Jokes - Used to be - Pacific products joke of the day, but site no longer works. Joke of the day - Pee in the pool
Urine-indicator dye is a substance which is supposed to be able to react with urine to form a colored cloud in a swimming pool or hot tub , thus indicating the location of people who are urinating while they are in the water. Urine is difficult to detect as many of the naturally occurring compounds within urine are unstable and react freely with common disinfectants like chlorine, creating a large number of disinfection by-product DBP compounds from the original organic chemicals in urine. In an article published in , Snopes confirmed such a dye did not exist. Rumours of the origin of urine indicator-dye go back at least as far as , [1] and the story is commonly told to children by parents who do not wish them to urinate in the pool.
It is an antisocial act that normally goes under the radar, but many swimmers have long suspected the truth: people are peeing in the pool. Now scientists have been able to confirm the full extent of offending for the first time, after developing a test designed to estimate how much urine has been covertly added to a large volume of water. Regular swimmers with a keen sense of hygiene may wish to stop reading now. The test works by measuring the concentration of an artificial sweetener, acesulfame potassium ACE , that is commonly found in processed food and passes through the body unaltered.