Bromine. Why not? Great. I'll add that to the list of suggestions. But I'm also looking for the name of a consultant with mega creds that will be able to look at all of the issues here with me and help convince them to be reasonable.
Monona
In a message dated 11/30/2012 2:36:22 PM Eastern Standard Time, pharriso**At_Symbol_Here**UNIVMAIL.CIS.MCMASTER.CA writes:
Monona, once again, just as we thought we had seen it all, you bring us news of someone who has managed to create a new low in health and safety in the workplace. And I thought that was the exclusive purview of us academics... wrong again!
While this all sounds like a nightmare, here is a suggestion just in case your clients decide to go ahead with their experiment in measuring human infection rates.
How about bromine? Like most, I use chlorine in our pool, but pool shops also carry "bromine" i.e tablets that release bromine; it is used when people are allergic or react to chlorine, and is apparently effective as a sterilizer. I would reason that bromine is a less powerful oxidant than chlorine, and so the red dyes might be more stable and oxidized less, or less fast. No idea if this will work, just a suggestion.
Best,
Paul