Nope.

The least toxic method is . . . SURPRISE . . . CHLORINE!

But, various environmental groups, with several types of hidden agenda at play, have bamboozled scientifically ignorant MSM reporters into knee-jerk "Chlorine is BAD!" writing. Like most such distortions, there is some truth behind it. In particular using chlorine to treat heavily used indoor pools is problematic, and I'm aware of the problems at a highly personal level: my older son was an elite distance swimmer in middle and high school, but also suffered from severe allergies and chronic asthma.

However, almost all of those problem are issues for INDOOR pools, not outdoor pools with unrestricted air circulation, and full exposure to solar UV.

I often joke about the fact that pools are filled with the highly toxic chemical, dihydrogen oxide, and that more people are killed each year by over-exposure to that single chemical, than by over-exposure to every other chemical combined. Of course, dihydrogen oxide is just water, but it is quite true that more people drown than are killed by other chemicals combined.

Ironically -- and I was finally able to run this down a couple of years ago -- a woman died some years ago, after accidentally drinking about a 1/2 cup of bleach she'd set down next to her orange juice. But, what killed her, was her panicky attempt to dilute the "toxic bleach" with water. She drank nearly 2 gallons, which so upset the electrolyte balance in her body that she died.

And, it's funny in a macabre sort of way when wannabe murderers attempt to poison someone by forcing them to drink bleach. This has happened numerous times in recent years. I'm not certain, but it's my recollection that all such murder attempts have failed until they either used some more toxic material, or used physical means, like a rolling pin.

Ironically, plain old table salt is FAR more toxic that bleach. The LD50 (lethal dose for 50% of test subjects) for salt is around 4g/kg, or about 250 grams for an average adult woman -- about 1/2 cup dry measure. By contrast, the LD50 for sodium hypochlorite is around 6g/kg . . . for 100% sodium hypochlorite, or about 100g/kg as 6% bleach. So plain table salt is around 25 times MORE toxic than "toxic chlorine bleach"!

If the lady who drank the bleach had done nothing, she would have ended up with a sore throat, and possibly, an upset stomach!