The myth comes from a 1989 NASA study carried out in small sealed chambers. In a real, ventilated home, the effect becomes negligible: a 2019 analysis from Drexel University calculated that you'd need 10 to 1,000 plants per square meter to match ordinary air exchange. France's environment agency, ADEME, had already judged the claim scientifically unproven in 2011. For cleaner air, open a window instead.
Chlorine on its own is fairly gentle. But when it combines with urine, sweat and other grime from swimmers, it forms chloramines, which cause stinging eyes and that classic 'chlorine smell'. A well-kept pool barely smells at all. Shower before you swim and never pee in the water.
Muscle mass slowly shrinks with age, putting independence at risk. But in 1990, a study had nursing home residents aged 86 to 96 train their legs for eight weeks: their strength more than doubled. Muscle responds to training at any age. Getting up from a chair without using your hands is already an exercise.