According to an Orange Beach Fire Department’s Facebook post on Thursday, crews responded to a hazardous material call in the 27000 block of Canal Road. The incident involved a chemical release at an outdoor pool, affecting ten children.

Upon arrival, responders met parents and children who were having trouble breathing. Firefighters found that chlorine tablets had been mistakenly added to muriatic acid, creating a harmful vapor.

The ten children experienced minor symptoms. Firefighters evaluated and treated them on-site. All the children’s guardians refused ambulance transport.

Orange Beach Fire & Rescue extended its thanks to the Gulf Shores Fire Rescue, Orange Beach Police Department, and Medstar EMS for their assistance in handling the incident.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pool chemical injuries account for as many as 5,200 emergency room visits each year in the U.S.

A chemical safety alert issued by the the EPA states; Pool chemicals may become a hazard when they become wetted by a small quantity of water or when they are improperly mixed, such as with other chemicals or reactive materials. Although the potential hazards of swimming pool water treatment and maintenance chemicals, also referred to as “pool chemicals,” have been recognized for some time, news media reports over the last five years still show a significant number of fires, toxic vapor releases, and personnel injuries in which pool chemicals were a factor.

Pool chemicals can cause injury if they directly contact a person’s skin, eyes, or respiratory or digestive system. The chemical will immediately react when wetted by perspiration, tears, mucus, and saliva in the nose, throat, and respiratory and digestive systems. Such injuries may occur from direct chemical contact with the skin or if chemical dust in the air contacts eyes, is inhaled, or settles on food that is consumed