Retired¹ nurse Sue Collins was just beginning the second length of her local pool when her morning swim suddenly became anything but a pleasure.

退休护士Sue Collins正准备在当地游泳池游第二程时她的早起游泳突然变成了令她不快的事。

Two months ago Sue, 69, who has never suffered from asthma² or any other breathing problem in the past, suddenly found herself gasping³ for breath.

两个月前，从未有过哮喘或其他呼吸问题的69岁的Sue突然觉得自己呼吸困难。

‘I felt as if my throat and oesophagus were closing up,’ says Sue.

“我感觉我的喉咙和食道都卡住了”，Sue说。

Sue is convinced the problem is related to the indoor swimming baths. ‘I spend half the year in Turkey and swim every day outside in a pool or the sea there and never have this problem,’ she says.

Sue后来被告知这个问题与室内游泳池有关。“我在土耳其呆了半年，每天都在游泳池或海里游泳，从来没有发生过类似问题”，她说。

She may be right, because although a trip to the pool is the perfect exercise for many, the chlorine used to keep the water free from germs can trigger problems.

她说的可能没错，尽管对很多人来说游泳是绝佳的锻炼方式，但是泳池里用来杀菌的氯气可能会引发一些问题。

‘Chlorinated environments can make people feel as if they are choking or have difficulty breathing,’ says Dr. James Hull⁴, consultant⁵ respiratory physician at Royal Brompton Hospital, London.

“含氯气的环境会使人感到类似窒息或呼吸困难的症状”，皇家布朗普顿医院的呼吸科医师James Hull说。

But in most cases it’s not the chlorine that triggers problems, but the by-products formed when chlorine interacts with other substances — and this is mostly down to people not showering before they enter the pool.

但大多数时候并不是氯气引起了问题，而是氯气和其他物质反应的副产物引发的，而且这大多是情况下是由游泳前没洗澡的人造成的。

‘This then poisons the water for them and for others,’ says Dr. Hull. ‘The chlorine interacts with sweat and urine (and beauty products such as moisturiser) on the skin and forms by-products called chloramines that float above the surface as a gaseous⁶ solution that can be inhaled⁷.’

“这些副产物会污染包括他们在内的游泳者的游泳环境”，Hull医生说。“氯气会和人皮肤上的汗液，尿素以及润肤乳之类的化妆品反应，产生名为氯胺的副产物，这种物质会浮在水面上成为一种可被吸入的气溶体。

Chloramines are heavier than air so hang over the water where they are easily inhaled. Some believe they may cause lung disorders⁸. A Swedish study in 2013 examining the health of 146 workers at 46 indoor pools found that 17 per cent had airway⁹ trouble at work — but no problems at home.

氯胺比空气重，所以恰巧浮在水面极容易被吸入的地方。有些人认为氯胺会导致肺部疾病。瑞典2013年的一项研究调查了46个室内泳池的146名工作者发现，百分之十七的人在工作时有呼吸问题但在家时没有。

So, everyone should shower before swimming. As Dr. Hull says: ‘People need to remember that showering isn’t just for them. It is for the greater good.’

所以，每个人游泳前都应该洗澡。正如Hull医生所说：“人们应该记住，洗澡并不是只为了自己，还是为了大家好。”