Despite the significant benefits of swimming pool chlorine in its ability to kill dangerous bacteria, it is clear that some of the side effects can be disadvantageous. The overall odor of chlorine can be extremely unpleasant and the agent can irritate the skin and eyes. It also has the ability to bleach certain fabrics, which can damage clothing. More importantly, the excessive air pockets of chlorine gas that surround swimming pools can be dangerous to people's health and possibly even be carcinogenic. For these reasons, some industries have begun to investigate new alternative methods to chlorine for sterilizing swimming pools. According to Smith and Monteath et al. (2006, pp. 1 - 37), "some of them are good alternatives, but they do not achieve the cleanliness, oxidation levels or low price that chlorine offers." One of the main alternatives to chlorine in swimming pools is bromine. Bromine is an extremely effective pool disinfectant, successfully killing harmful bacteria in swimming pools. The compound can only be added in one of two very specific methods, making it very expensive. As described by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Section for Environmental Public Health, 2014 (p. 14, 15): “For swimming pool sanitation, bromine compounds are sold in two solid forms: a two-part system that uses a bromide salt dissolved in water and activated by the addition of a separate oxidant; and a one-part stick or tablet containing both bromine and an oxidant and dispensed by an erosive-type dispenser. Once bromine is in the pool, it reacts with water to form hypobromous acid which then dissociates into hypobromite ions according to the following equation: HOBr(aq) + H2O(l) ↔ H3O+(aq) + OBr-(aq)Figure 10.: Dissociation of Hypobr...... middle of paper ...... to how they best maintain their pool and their requirements in terms of funding and effort. Works CitedChemistry at Work. 2014.pp. 4 - 5. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Section for Environmental Public Health. 2014. Pool and Spa Water Chemistry. [e-book] Missouri: nitt.edu. p. 14, 15. Available at: nitt.edu http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/sportscenter/swimmingpool/Swim-pool-chemistry.pdf [Accessed March 30, 2014].Poolnerd.com. 2014. poolnerd » Blog Archive » Ozone: should you use it in your pool?. [online] Available at: http://poolnerd.com/2007/02/17/ozone-should-you-use-it-in-your-pool/ [Accessed: March 30, 2014].Sturgeon, J. 2014 . Swimming pools: alternatives to chlorine. [online] Available at: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/pools-spas/swimming-pools-alternatives-chlorine/#. [Accessed: March 30 2014].