Roofing material in pool - is it toxic? (HOA, how much)

[swaysway]

We recently had our roof redone and some of the underlayment material ended up in the pool.

I am a cancer survivor and so kind of neurotic about reducing toxin exposure.

Has this happened to anyone? I’m wondering whether to drain the pool, or if it’s overkill.

Also thinking that maybe between the volume of water and also that this time of year there’s a lot of evaporation / new water coming in, it might be fine. Just looking for words of wisdom from anyone with experience.

Thanks.

[smoochaz]

We breath all these toxins in the air all the time. Was it just dust or actual pieces that fell in that are disintegrating? Get a pool person to test and clean the water - and ask your doctor for peace of mind.

[swaysway]

Originally Posted by smoochaz

We breath all these toxins in the air all the time. Was it just dust or actual pieces that fell in that are disintegrating? Get a pool person to test and clean the water - and ask your doctor for peace of mind.

It was pieces of the underlayment. I don’t think it’s something a pool person could test for and I doubt my doctor would have construction-related expertise, but thank you for commenting. We’ll ask our roofer, but construction people tend to be blasé about this kind of thing and I am more on the neurotic side.

[wit-nit]

The short answer is not to worry. The long answer click here. https://baseysroofing.com/are-roof-s...xic%20per%20se.

[Rickcin]

The biggest risk you have is actually the chlorine that’s used to disinfect the water and there are many studies regarding this.

My wife loves to swim and always has until learning that with her specific type of cancer, she should never expose her skin to the levels of chlorine found in most pool.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by swaysway

We recently had our roof redone and some of the underlayment material ended up in the pool.

I am a cancer survivor and so kind of neurotic about reducing toxin exposure.

Has this happened to anyone? I’m wondering whether to drain the pool, or if it’s overkill.

Also thinking that maybe between the volume of water and also that this time of year there’s a lot of evaporation / new water coming in, it might be fine. Just looking for words of wisdom from anyone with experience.

Thanks.

You said "some" material got in. How much estimated square footage of material? How long was it in the pool? When it was in the pool, did it break down or was it wet and intact? IF it was left in too long, the underlayment can break down. https://www.sylroofingsupply.com/roo...%20dry%20out.?

If it broke down, some of the material like the felt will be filtered out because the particles are big. If much of it was dissolved, that's a different story. So you know, when water evaporates (and assuming some of it fell apart and dissolved because it was in the pool for a long time), only the water or H2O will go. Everything else is left behind. If you remember your separation experiments in chemistry, evaporation will leave behind the solids. Read about it here https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshel...ating_Mixtures

That said, how any toxin gets into your body will have a different impact. Note: I'm not assuming the underlayment is toxic, rather, discussing all topics related. Therefore breathing the dust will be different than installing something by touching your skin versus drinking water with a toxin inside of it. Asbestos comes to mind. Touch it all you want but don't breathe it. There are a thousand different examples. But hundreds of installers are touching the material with their hands many hours per day. If something got absorbed in the skin and it was harmful, it would have been noted.

If it was me and a small portion of underlayment got in my pool, I'd pull it out and call it a day. If it bothered me, I'd call the installer, ask for the specific brand he used and contact the manufacturer and ask to talk with the engineer. Actually, I did that as our HOA sprayed green on the grass and my dog got green feet three days in a row. Just because a chemical sounds scary like in my personal example like “Carboxymethylcellulose Gum" (also called Aqualon or CMC), it is often used in foods to “thicken”. Or “Styrene Acrylic Copolymer”. that's used for pigment loading (common on paint). So yea, I dove in deep. Lol Anyways, once you found the key chemicals that go into the underlayment, you can dig into each one of them. Google each one to fill in the gaps. But green dog feet and a chuck of underlayment are different motivations. you get my point.

All that said, with any topic, your "total dose" matters. Considering how much water is in the pool, math wise it's not a factor. And therefore, I personally would not worry about it if 10-30 square feet of (normally) absorbing material got into my pool for a day. It would be the longshot of a longshot of potential problems. Heck, you are swimming with the leached-out chemicals from your pool filter, grout, ceramic, plastic parts, etc. But if you cannot sleep because of it, at least call the manufacturing company to get a rundown of what is inside the roofing material. But my gut would be telling me it's a nothing burger. I hope this help ^^.

[Sno0909]

I think underlayment is just a felt product. So it shouldn't be toxic. But I am no expert.

[swaysway]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

You said "some" material got in. How much estimated square footage of material? How long was it in the pool? When it was in the pool, did it break down or was it wet and intact? IF it was left in too long, the underlayment can break down. https://www.sylroofingsupply.com/roo...%20dry%20out.?

If it broke down, some of the material like the felt will be filtered out because the particles are big. If much of it was dissolved, that's a different story. So you know, when water evaporates (and assuming some of it fell apart and dissolved because it was in the pool for a long time), only the water or H2O will go. Everything else is left behind. If you remember your separation experiments in chemistry, evaporation will leave behind the solids. Read about it here https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshel...ating_Mixtures

That said, how any toxin gets into your body will have a different impact. Note: I'm not assuming the underlayment is toxic, rather, discussing all topics related. Therefore breathing the dust will be different than installing something by touching your skin versus drinking water with a toxin inside of it. Asbestos comes to mind. Touch it all you want but don't breathe it. There are a thousand different examples. But hundreds of installers are touching the material with their hands many hours per day. If something got absorbed in the skin and it was harmful, it would have been noted.

If it was me and a small portion of underlayment got in my pool, I'd pull it out and call it a day. If it bothered me, I'd call the installer, ask for the specific brand he used and contact the manufacturer and ask to talk with the engineer. Actually, I did that as our HOA sprayed green on the grass and my dog got green feet three days in a row. Just because a chemical sounds scary like in my personal example like “Carboxymethylcellulose Gum" (also called Aqualon or CMC), it is often used in foods to “thicken”. Or “Styrene Acrylic Copolymer”. that's used for pigment loading (common on paint). So yea, I dove in deep. Lol Anyways, once you found the key chemicals that go into the underlayment, you can dig into each one of them. Google each one to fill in the gaps. But green dog feet and a chuck of underlayment are different motivations. you get my point.

All that said, with any topic, your "total dose" matters. Considering how much water is in the pool, math wise it's not a factor. And therefore, I personally would not worry about it if 10-30 square feet of (normally) absorbing material got into my pool for a day. It would be the longshot of a longshot of potential problems. Heck, you are swimming with the leached-out chemicals from your pool filter, grout, ceramic, plastic parts, etc. But if you cannot sleep because of it, at least call the manufacturing company to get a rundown of what is inside the roofing material. But my gut would be telling me it's a nothing burger. I hope this help ^^.

This was so beyond helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it!!

[swaysway]

Originally Posted by Rickcin

The biggest risk you have is actually the chlorine that’s used to disinfect the water and there are many studies regarding this.

My wife loves to swim and always has until learning that with her specific type of cancer, she should never expose her skin to the levels of chlorine found in most pool.

Oh man, that’s a real shame to give up her pool time! I hope she’s doing okay ❤️

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Rickcin

The biggest risk you have is actually the chlorine that’s used to disinfect the water and there are many studies regarding this.

My wife loves to swim and always has until learning that with her specific type of cancer, she should never expose her skin to the levels of chlorine found in most pool.

Here in the PHX metro, the city water has the same amount of chlorine as pools or hot tubs. To prove it, take a pool test strip and dip it in a glass of tap water. That's because, during the hot summers and shallow pipes, they need to chlorinate the heck out of water or else it will grow contaminants.

My wife has dry skin. Because of it, we put in a Huge regenerating carbon filter about the size of a large home water conditioner. Plus, chlorine ruins the softener's resin beads so that makes the beads last a lot longer. See https://candjwater.com/2022/05/20/ca...in%20in%20half.

Sure, an out-of-wack public pool can be even higher. But a proper chemistry or hot tub is about the same chlorine as your local city water shower.