Incident at the "Imperium Eventi" swimming pool complex
On Sunday morning, a serious incident occurred in a private swimming pool complex in the Borghesiana district of Rome. Five children aged between five and eleven suffered health problems after bathing in the pool. A nine-year-old boy had to be taken to the intensive care unit of the Policlinico Umberto I. He is not responding to treatment and could suffer irreversible neurological damage.
The other four children, including three siblings of the seriously ill boy, were also taken to hospital due to skin irritation and breathing difficulties. Two of them were discharged after outpatient treatment, while the other two were admitted as inpatients.
Investigations and possible causes
The public prosecutor's office in Rome has opened an investigation into serious bodily injury. The swimming pool equipment and the chlorination system were confiscated in order to clarify the cause of the incident. Initial indications point to a malfunction of the disinfection system or a faulty mixture of chemicals. This could have led to the release of chlorine gas.
The operator of the facility told the media that there had been a sudden increase in pressure in the system, causing a large amount of chlorine to escape from the nozzles. There were several people in the pool at the time of the incident, but the symptoms only occurred in the five children affected.
Health risks from chlorine gas
Alessandro Miani, President of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), warned of the dangers of chlorine gas in swimming pools. The combination of disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite with acid correctors can lead to the formation of toxic chlorine gas. Even brief exposure can lead to severe irritation of the respiratory tract, eyes and skin. Long-term or intensive exposure can cause serious health problems such as chronic bronchitis, kidney damage and neurological disorders.
Miani emphasized that the number of chlorine gas incidents in Italian swimming pools was increasing and called for stricter controls and better training for maintenance staff.
