After surveying more than 500 people, the Government Dental College at Fort has found that a majority of their subjects - who regularly used the pools - suffer from tooth erosion. And the worst affected are children and teenagers.

The reason for this, finds the study, is the high level of chlorine in the pools.

Dr Mansingh Pawar, dean of the college, said, “Many patients who complain of teeth erosion are regular swimmers at civic pools. In order to understand the link, we decided to conduct the study.”

The study was started seven months ago, when students from the college visited the four pools - at Dadar, Chembur, Ghatkopar and Kandivli. They interviewed regulars from different age groups.

Throwing light on the results, Dr Pawar added, “We have concluded that regular swimmers at civic pools are at a higher risk of developing tooth erosion, especially younger swimmers.”

Though Dr Pawar refused to divulge the figures and the exact details, he said the study will be published in the college dissertation next month.

However, the civic body has taken serious not of the findings. “We have come to understand that chlorine is doing harm to the swimmers, so we have decided to stop using chlorine in our four swimming pools. Instead, we plan to opt for ozone technology to clean the water,” said Chandrashekhar Rokade, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, in charge of BMC’s swimming pools.

The use of chlorine will be phased out as each of the pools in revamped.

How ozone technology works

Ozone is a form of active oxygen that is a natural purifier with no harmful chemical by-products. It is a powerful oxidiser, and is widely used in swimming pools as an alternative to chlorine.