--- title: VIDEO: Why You Shouldn't Pee in the Pool description: Science explains why you should hold it in this summer canonical: https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-17T21:12:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:28:11.545Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's What Happens When You Pee In The Pool og:description: Science explains why you should hold it in this summer og:url: https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab73d319bd8aaa30/69869802adae444a50543bc6/3003-006221.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Child in Snorkel in Pool og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Happens When You Pee In The Pool twitter:description: Science explains why you should hold it in this summer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab73d319bd8aaa30/69869802adae444a50543bc6/3003-006221.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why You Shouldn't Pee in the Pool by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 17, 2014 9:12 PM CUT  Child in Snorkel in Pool Child in Snorkel in PoolJohner—Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 17, 2014 9:12 PM CUT Now that summer is here, there’s a good chance you might spend some of your time cooling off in a swimming pool. But, given that the average swimmer leaves behind 30 to 80 ml of urine when they go swimming, there might be more than just refreshment waiting for you in the water. A recent study [published](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es405402r "undefined") in the American Chemical Society journal _Environmental Science & Technology_ shows that mixing chlorine and uric acid — the latter of which is “almost entirely attributable to human urine” — can result in “volatile disinfection by-products.” Those by-products include trichloramine, which can affect the respiratory system and lead to irritation of the skin and eyes, as well as cyanogen chloride, which has been used in the past as a chemical-warfare agent. There isn’t enough chlorine or urine in a pool to produce quite that level of destruction, but what is there can still find its way into your body, so science just gave swimmers another reason to hold it until you can get out. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/"},"headline":"Here's Why You Shouldn't Pee in the Pool","datePublished":"2014-06-17T21:12:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:28:11.545Z","description":"Besides being icky, it could also be very bad for you.","url":"https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/","keywords":["Chemistry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab73d319bd8aaa30/69869802adae444a50543bc6/3003-006221.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab73d319bd8aaa30/69869802adae444a50543bc6/3003-006221.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Child in Snorkel in Pool","caption":"3003-006221","creditText":"Johner—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/chemistry/","name":"Chemistry"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2891359/pool-pee/","name":"Here's Why You Shouldn't Pee in the Pool"}}]}] ```