How much pee in the pool is fatal?

You may have known that pee combined with chlorine makes a toxic byproduct. So peeing in a chlorine pool actually is unhealthy. But how unhealthy? Like, could it kills you?

The good scientists at arstechnica tried to figure that out. Here’s what they calculated:

Via.

If you and three million other people could get at this pool and unload your pee into it before your bodies melted, before the crowd crushed you to death, and before you drowned from the massive tidal wave of pee... yes, you could feasibly die of cyanogen chloride poisoning originating from chlorinated water and pee. 

Wow. I'm only swimming in lakes and oceans from now on. Oh wait, fish pee... darn it!

Who does peeing in the pool hurt? EVERYONE!

Via.

I never thought it was THAT big of a deal to pee in the pool. Not that I ever did it! 

But a new study finds that peeing in the pool IS a big deal if the pool uses chlorine and other chemicals. Apparently the uric acid in urine mixes with chlorine to make a two new chemicals: cyanogen chloride and thrichloramine.

And guess what? Those two chemicals are bad for your heart, lungs, and central nervous system.

So I have two words of advice to anyone who’s reading this while swimming: HOLD IT!

How short do you think I am?

The eagle eye of the mighty Django saw this sign in a bathroom in Thailand! Hey, that reminds me of this sign: we don't swim in your toilet so don't pee in our pool

Do Olympic swimmers pee in the pool?

Short answer: Yes.

Slightly longer answer: ALL THE TIME!

More details from Olympic swimmer Carly Geehr:

You always try to pee before you swim, but sometimes your body defies logic and finds a way to refill your bladder just to spite you. Adrenaline and nerves wreak havoc on your system, and I knew tons of other swimmers that always, regardless of prior planning, had to pee right before a race. So it's not uncommon to splash yourself before you climb up on the blocks, so that extra liquid on yourself and the pool deck affords you an interesting opportunity. (I'll let you finish the rest of that thought.) 

As a swimmer, you just have to accept that you're swimming in pee. I had a teammate that would sit on the wall and announce “I'm peeing!” which was ... disgusting ... but at least she warned us. I'm sure I've swum directly behind people who were just letting it all out. 

The only way you can really tell if someone's peeing in the pool is if they announce it to you or they're really dehydrated/sitting in one spot while they go. It diffuses pretty quickly, and if you're moving, it diffuses even faster.

"I take a sheet in the pool"?

I'm pretty sure that's against the rules.

There's no "P" in "POOL"?

Cool! (Thanks to sixonfive72.)

Take It Easy! (It's Just Chocolate)

This is the season for polar bear swimmers to jump into icy waters. And so this guy, who took part in a polar bear swim in English Bay (off of Vancouver, B.C.) dressed as a toilet.

But even knowing that brown stuff on the toilet seat is chocolate...Yuck!

Photo from Reuters.