Real allergy to chlorine _ Dermatologist verified

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O

Oddad

0
Bronze Supporter
Jun 25, 2018
7
Houston
Pool Size
14000
Hi all,

I have searched Google and this site for hours and still no good answer. Maybe there isn't one but I really would like to be able to go in a pool regularly again.

Yes I know pool allergies are rare but based on my research not as rare as you all think. I get rash and bumps after prolonged and repeated exposure to pools over time. I have been in SWCG pools and non swcg pools. I used allergy medicine, skin concoctions , basically anything and I always get the rash since I was 14. Funny never had it once before then. Dermatologist also confirmed. As far as I know I have a chlorine allergy. So just believe me for now?

Here are my solutions but would love feedback from you smart folks.
  1. baquacil but it is a PITA and really expensive. Doesn't sound like something I would maintain well.
  2. I have not had a rash from bromine but think that would be highly expensive for a 20k gallon pool. But maybe not
  3. If i could keep my chlorine levels belowv 3ppm that would be similar to bath water, right? If that is correct would AOP work for me if i also had like 2 or 3 ppm of chlorine in it ? Or am I confused

I want a TFP so seems like 2 or 3 maybe my best options.unless there is a 4th+.

I would love some advice.

Cheers!
 
reluctant to advise against a doctors diagnosis
but if you are able to drink unfiltered water i would think a pool maintained to tfp specs may be alright
the fc/cya relationship is where i think you are missing the tfp way
2 or 3 ppm fc with no cya could be harsh on your skin, where as with 30ppm cya ,4-6 fc could be ok Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
and keep ph in range
 
Re the FC/cya relationship, a medical person should advise OP, but an allergy isn’t the same as an irritant or dry skin from chlorine. If it’s in the pool, it might cause a reaction, regardless of how shielded it is.

I’d take your doctor’s advice on how serious the allergy is and whether it would be safe to try chlorine with stabilizer. If it is, see how it goes. I have some allergies that are “yeah, this thing is close to what you’re allergic to. Let’s see if you can do it without a reaction.” I have others where it’s “don’t even LOOK at anything close to this stuff”. All depends on whether the allergy is life threatening or has the potential to become so.
 
Thanks. My allergy is not life threatening at all. Just itchy AF and no fun to have. It may also be an irritant. Their advice so far had been suck it up ..haha . No real mefical fix, unfortunately.

So AOP won't help lower my chlorine levels? Is It a gimmick?
 
i see on another post your bath water fc is 4ppm
as your allergy is not life threatening or too serious
i would try getting your pool to tfp specs with accurate test kit and see how you cope
from what i have seen over the years most people who could not use a "chlorine pool" find a TFP pool fine
try adding 1500ppm salt as well and maybe some borates
 
Oddad said:
Hi all,

I have searched Google and this site for hours and still no good answer. Maybe there isn't one but I really would like to be able to go in a pool regularly again.

Yes I know pool allergies are rare but based on my research not as rare as you all think. I get rash and bumps after prolonged and repeated exposure to pools over time. I have been in SWCG pools and non swcg pools. I used allergy medicine, skin concoctions , basically anything and I always get the rash since I was 14. Funny never had it once before then. Dermatologist also confirmed. As far as I know I have a chlorine allergy. So just believe me for now

Here are my solutions but would love feedback from you smart folks.
  1. baquacil but it is a PITA and really expensive. Doesn't sound like something I would maintain well.
  2. I have not had a rash from bromine but think that would be highly expensive for a 20k gallon pool. But maybe not
  3. If i could keep my chlorine levels belowv 3ppm that would be similar to bath water, right? If that is correct would AOP work for me if i also had like 2 or 3 ppm of chlorine in it ? Or am I confused

I want a TFP so seems like 2 or 3 maybe my best options.unless there is a 4th+.

I would love some advice.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum.

If your Dermatologist has decided that you have a true allergy to chlorine, you need to discuss this with him/her. This is not a forum that gives medical advise.

With that said, I would bet that your allergy is the result of poorly maintained pool chemistry, and most likely triggered more by the CC (Combined Chlorine) than the FC levels.

Public pools are the worst culprits, followed by those who follow the once a week 'shock and pray' method.

Our methods will provide a 100% sanitary pool. Running lower than recommended FC levels based on your CYA can allow algae, and person to person disease to reproduce and grow in the water. Remember, these organisms are microscopic, just because it looks clean doesn't mean it is.

Your FC is based on your CYA (stabilizer) level, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]

Have you read any of our Pool School, especially ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry?
 
Maybe someone in the Houston area can invite you over for a swim in a TFP pool. You're welcome to try mine but we're quite far apart.
I was thinking along the same lines as Dom, CC's could be the problem. Trouble free pools have very low CC's.
 
As one who developed such a rash and subsequent visits and tons of lotions and concoctions I can tell say this. I highly doubt it’s chlorine and more than likely something in your diet. Just how did your derm confirm this? How was he or she able to do a skin test? You say bath water is ok, well most city water has traces of chlorine in it. If you are truly allergic, that rash would appear from bath water too. Perhaps those pools you swim in have high chlorine or high cc. I can off that After eight painful scratching years, I put myself on a diet, guess what. Two foods were the culprit for me, I can happily say all my rashes are gone and haven’t reappeared.

Best advice ice I ever received was from an old dear friend long passed, who said, remember, docs get licensed once they get an 85% mark on their final. That’s 15% they get wrong, think about it.
 

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My nephew has a skin reaction after using my pool although my water balance is perfect. However he has found if he showers off immediately and does not let the pool water dry on his skin he doesn’t have a reaction at all. We are all different, and not medical advice in any way but I thought I would offer up that experience for OP.
 
Hi all

Not asking for medical advice but wanted to give some background.
Derm/allergy doc confirmed with skin test
AOP advanced oxidation process, combines ozone and UV to clear contaminants, cut chlorine ...supposedly
tried showering immediately after but same result
It's all pools but not sure if I have ever been in a TFP pool
Food allergy may be a part of it but that's a whole different discussion

Does anyone have an AOP system or a bromine pool?

Thanks again for all the advice
 
The people who owned my home before I bought it used bromine in the pool. It's a 20000 gallon inground. The wife had an allergy to chlorine as well... she couldn't get in the neighbor's pool because she would break out from the chlorine. Anyway, they used bromine pucks in the inline chlorinator, and as far as I know maintenance on the pool was the same as a chlorine pool otherwise. Bromine is more expensive... the pucks cost about twice as much as chlorine pucks. But if it means you can enjoy your pool without worry about allergic reactions, then I saw go for it.
 
Oddad said:
Hi all

Not asking for medical advice but wanted to give some background.
Derm/allergy doc confirmed with skin test
AOP advanced oxidation process, combines ozone and UV to clear contaminants, cut chlorine ...supposedly
tried showering immediately after but same result
It's all pools but not sure if I have ever been in a TFP pool
Food allergy may be a part of it but that's a whole different discussion

Does anyone have an AOP system or a bromine pool?

Thanks again for all the advice
Click to expand...
You should discuss bromine use with your dermatologist. Bromine is a halogen like chlorine, and simplistically stated, bromine's properties fall between chlorine & iodine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen
 
Your municipal water is 4 ppm clorine and it doesn't give you any problems?

If this is the case a tfp is for you as the active FC would be around .2 FC since 4 with no cc doesn't bother you.

Aop won't work

Would like to hear more info about your municipal water.
 
First: Welcome to TFP!

Second: Please forgive the skepticism on display here. We get several people every year who come seeking advice after self-diagnosing themselves with chlorine allergies. Probably less than 1% have actually been diagnosed. Whether it is rare or not, if someone is self-diagnosing then they don't have an allergy as far as we are concerned, especially knowing the kind of awful chemical management taking place in most pools. Much like I thought pork chops were disgusting as a child because my parents broiled the heck out of them, I only thought that because I never experienced a properly prepared one. Most people have never experienced a properly managed pool. So even when someone comes forward with a legitimate medical issue we can still be a bit skeptical. I hope you will bear with us.

Third: For anybody who is not in the OP's situation please do not take any of the following as advice. A pool managed to TFPC is incredibly comfortable and not in the least bit like a normal chlorine managed pool. I only offer support on TFPC here, the following is throwing ideas out, so to speak. If someone reading this wants to ask me questions about it the first thing I'm going to ask is if they have been diagnosed with a true chlorine allergy. I want no possible misreading of this, TFPC works and will be less work and less costly than what I am about to talk about, probably more comfortable too for 999 out of 1000 people. If anybody calls me out for saying this isn't TFPC, I agree 100%. If anybody who is not the OP would rather follow the ideas presented below in their own personal pool then please have at it, but if you encounter any problems my answer will be to run within the FC/CYA chart. I'm putting these ideas out there to try to help someone with a legitimate need to explore minimizing chlorine levels, please don't make me regret it...


Ok, that out of the way, onward to Oddad. Go ahead and drop the AOP idea, it's just another gimmick. Here are my thoughts. If it is in the budget an SWG will make all of this simpler. A little trick most people don't know is that you can have a saltwater bromine pool, but keep that on the backburner for now. If you were to run an SWG with a CYA level of about 30 you would lose a lot of chlorine to the sun, but aside of having longer run times you could in theory run about 1-3 ppm FC with no real problems. Now running that low it will be very easy for the sun to burn off nearly all of your chlorine during the day, so some extra buffer might be in order. Here is where it gets extra controversial ;) I would suggest, if you do this, you add 50-100 ppm of borates to the water and drop your phosphate level to near zero. This will just help slow any growth that may happen if the FC level drops too low. Now if you do get any algae growth a traditional SLAM will be in order, you just won't want to swim during the process.

Ok, so let's say you do this and it still causes problems. In that case, you add 30 ppm sodium bromide and -poof- you have a bromine pool. That's all you would do to convert it over, then you would just run between 2-5 Br. As I said, an SWG will work with a bromine pool, as soon as it creates chlorine the chlorine is converted to bromine. You will have to watch as bromine burns off in the sun faster than stabilized chlorine so you may have to run the SWG more. If an SWG isn't really an option I would suggest a stenner liquid chlorine dispenser, as running that low you would rather have a steady supply of chlorine being added throughout the day. Adding all at once can cause you to either spike higher than you want at the beginning, or drop too low between dosing.

All of that said, I very much encourage you to try to find someone with a TFPC pool to try, especially an SWG one. It is entirely possible the active chlorine levels in one are low enough that it wouldn't cause a reaction and it would be much easier to manage than any of the ideas above.
 
If you go bromine you have to go sodium bromide as the bromine tabs are like triclor tabs and are unsustainable.

I would first try a clorine bath at 1 ppm FC to see how just straight clorine affects your skin. A tfp at 30 cya and 12 fc is still under 1 ppm fc at 0 cya active fc

If that goes good try a straight tfp at 30 cya and keep working your way down to what affects you.

Let us know, good luck
 

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