Brisbane pool possible cause for hair loss
Health fears shut poolAINSLEY PAVEY
HEALTH officials have shut down a Brisbane pool used by Olympic swimming hopefuls after claims the water was causing "total body-hair loss".
The Brisbane City Council closed the privately-run St Peter's Lutheran College pool on Friday after tests showed high levels of "total dissolved solids" (TDS) including urine, sweat and minerals, in the water.
Swimmers had complained they were losing "eyebrow, armpit, head, body and pubic hair" from the pool at Indooroopilly that is the home of state club champions St Peter's Western and a 60-strong Queensland Academy of Sport training squad led by coach Michael Bohl.
"It is total body hair loss," a mother told The Sunday Mail this week.
She said about 20 swimmers had been losing hair but were being told to "wear a cap".
The council confirmed TDS levels in the 50m pool, used by Olympic silver medallist Nic Sprenger, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jeff English and emerging backstroker Belinda Nevell, were 150 per cent above the recommended range.
This week, the group rallied behind the school, with Sprenger saying if the council shut the pool "every pool around the world should be shut".
English, 27, said the "chlorine had not rotted his brain" and the claims were an "over-reaction".
The closure follows a month-long dispute involving school management and the mother who asked for council tests to be conducted after she resorted to taking water samples from the pool for independent testing.
St Peter's Head of College Stephen Rudolph told The Sunday Mail on Thursday the school's independent tests showed the water was of a "very high quality".
However, in a statement yesterday, Mr Rudolph admitted the "above normal" results in the 50m pool.
He said "adjustments" were immediately made to the water, but the pools were not being drained.
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