Swimming for long hours may cause bladder cancer
POSTED March 17, 2011 - 17:00 | POSTED BY Neelam Goswami
Last edited by Jaspreet Virk on March 17, 2011 - 17:24
According to the study, regular swimmers are at increased risk of absorbing cancer-causing chemicals called trihalomethanes (THMs) through the skin.
Taking a shower, having a long bath or going for a swim are the three activities more likely undertaken by the wealthy people to keep clean or enjoy leisure time, and they also opt for bottled water rather than tap water to avoid any diseases.
Long hours in pool can give you cancer
But the new Spanish study warns that spending a lot of time in the pool can be harmful for health, and even drinking bottled water rather than tap water is no less risky than the water from public supplies, which contains cancer-causing chemical contaminants.
The carcinogenic chemicals THMs are created as a by-product of chlorinating water and when absorbed through the skin can increase the risk of the disease developing, reports the Daily Mail.
Study details and findings
A team of Spanish researchers, headed by Dr Gemma Castaño-Vinyals, of the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology [CREAL] in Castilla La Mancha, Spain, examined 1,270 people and found that wealthy individuals who consumed more bottled water as a precaution to avoid the health risks posed by drinking tap water did not pay attention to risk involved by swimming in chlorinated water.
"People with more money and more education may think that they're reducing their risk of exposure to water contaminants by drinking bottled water," said Gemma Castaqo-Vinyals.
"However, despite being apparently cleaner and taking more exercise, a result of taking more frequent and longer baths, and using swimming pools more often - they are actually increasing their risk of THM exposure," she added.
The researchers say that the take home message is that a person should take the required precaution and avoid long hours in the swimming pool to avoid cancer-developing risk.
The risk is small
Dr. Castaqo-Vinyals, however, added that the additional risk of developing bladder cancer through the water contaminants was 'small.'
"It must be said that, the risk of these contaminants causing bladder cancer is small, and findings from this research may help us to understand water use patterns in the context of cancer prevention," she said.
The findings were reported in BioMed Central's open access journal 'Environmental Health.'
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