This Is What A Clean, Healthy Pool Should Actually Smell Like
While very few of us would skip a post-swim shower (got to get that icky chlorine off!), we should probably follow the pre-swim rules with a little more vigor.
“If we don’t shower before we get in the water, we’re going to carry in whatever’s sitting on our skin,” says Michele Hlavsa, RN, MPH, an epidemiologist. That includes natural oils, sweat, makeup and other personal care products, urine and, yep, fecal matter.
All of these materials have one thing in common: nitrogen. When nitrogen mixes with the chlorine in the pool, chemical irritants called chloramines are formed, which is problematic for two reasons. The first issue is that some of the very-important chlorine is now being tied up as chloramines rather than protecting us from the germs in the pool. The second cause for worry is the chloramines are what’s making that pool smell like, well, a pool.
“A good healthy pool does not smell,” says Hlavsa, despite what most of us would like to believe. That smell we often attribute to a clean pool is actually the chloramines, which are also responsible for making your eyes red when you swim.
And all this time we’ve been blaming chlorine!
Relax, You Won’t Get An STD From Bikini Waxing
Is it safe to go bare down there?
Yes. Mostly.
While the scientific literature is sprinkled with super-scary case studies about things that can go wrong, like the immunocompromised woman who developed herpes and sepsis after getting a Brazilian at a salon or the college football players whose antibiotic-resistant staph infections were linked to cosmetic body shaving, the truth is that hair removal is relatively safe.
“There’s no data that says grooming is associated with STIs that’s large scale and solid,” says Dr. Benjamin Breyer, chief of urology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. “Nothing out there exists.”
That being said, there is evidence that the number of people with genital injuries related to hair removal is increasing as the grooming practice becomes even more mainstream. But the truth is that most people who decide to do a little trimming (according to a recent study, this includes 84 percent of American women) will likely just have to deal with minor problems: itchy, irritated skin, razor burn, ingrown hairs and whiteheads.
Now go forth and shave or wax responsibly. Or, you know, don’t.
Notice Anything About The Athletes Skipping The Olympics This Year?
Competing in the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent one’s country and face off against the world’s best athletes. But concerns about Zika virus in Brazil are causing some top competitors — mostly male golfers — to sit out the games this year.
Dr. Neil Silverman, an obstetric infectious disease specialist, points out that golf is an outdoor Olympic event that carries more risk of exposure to a Zika-infected mosquito than competitions that take place indoors.
“Some of the athletes, depending on which event they’re participating in, have an extended exposure period,” he said. “Someone who’s golfing, for example, in a golfing competition, is outside all day.”
Then, of course, there are family planning concerns, which each athlete cites in his statement about withdrawing from the games. Because Zika virus can remain in semen for months after infection, men who get the virus run the risk of passing it on to their partners — a particularly dangerous scenario if their partners are either pregnant or trying to conceive, as Zika can cause severe birth defects in developing fetuses.
But even if an athlete wasn’t planning to grow his or her family any time soon, there are serious concerns for those who rely on their body’s athletic performance to earn a living: Symptoms include muscle pain, fever, rash and fatigue, plus there’s the potentially lengthy time it takes to recover from Zika as well as the small risk of temporary paralysis if the virus triggers Guillain-Barre syndrome.
It’s worth noting that all of the athletes who have chosen to sit out so far are men, most of whom already earn millions on the regular PGA tour circuit and reportedly feel squeezed by a “tight golf season.” These athletes are some of the few Olympians who don’t rely on the games for income and sponsorship opportunities, perhaps indicating that the choice to withdraw feels more available to those of greater means. For instance, no female golfers have withdrawn from Olympic consideration even though Zika virus might arguably affect them more. As the New York Times notes, medaling is one of the few opportunities women golfers have to increase their profile.
FDA Warns Against Eating Cookie Dough, But Not Because Of Eggs
The Food and Drug Administration wants us to stop consuming cookie dough. Not because of oft-maligned eggs, long linked to risks of salmonella. The culprit this time: raw flour.
The FDA is urging consumers to avoid snacking on uncooked dough or batter of any kind after an outbreak of E. coli bacteria that’s infected at least 38 people in 20 states. The agency notes in a message this week that parents should be wary of homemade “play” clays and doughs — even if children don’t eat it, the bacteria could be still be transmitted via their hands.
The string of sicknesses has been linked to flour that General Mills produced. The company has issued a voluntary recall of 10 million pounds it sold under the Gold Medal, Signature Kitchen’s and Gold Medal Wondra brand names.
Anyone with flour in the recall should throw it away, the FDA said.
Just for you!
In the United States alone, up to 40 percent of food goes uneaten. So as part of HuffPost's “Reclaim” project, HuffPost Taste will focus the entire month of July on simple ways you can reduce food waste, starting in your own home.
Every day we'll share easy tips and tricks that'll transform your daily routine, whether it's learning how to turn your watermelon rinds into pickles, or mastering the art of meal planning. By the end of the month, you'll become a resourceful wizard of a cook and a smarter shopper -- but the best part is that you'll also save money and eat crazy delicious foods.
Get started today by making a cocktail out of that mess you make when you chop up overripe summer tomatoes. Then get in on the action by following us on Instagram and Facebook, and checking HuffPost Taste daily for your fill of tips and tricks.
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