Abstract
Chlorination of pool water leads to the forma-tion of many by-products, chloroform usually being the most abundant. The paper reports the results of a study evaluating exposure of bath-ers and pool employees to trihalomethanes (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromo-chloromethane, bromoform) in four indoor swimming pools with chlorinated water. Chlo-roform concentrations in environmental air samples when the pool was in use (about 9 h), in the range 1-182 μg/m3, were greater near the pool than in the change rooms, passageways and offices. Chloroform concentrations in per-sonal air samples of pool employees were in the range 18-138 μg/m3. Urinary concentrations of chloroform averaged (geometric means) 0.123 and 0.165 μg/l and 0.404 and 0.342 μg/l prior and at the end of exposure during in water and out of water activities, respectively. The significant increase in urinary excretion of chloroform confirms that the source of the contaminant was pool water. Absorption of chloroform, estimated from airborne and water concentrations, was significantly correlated with delta chloroform (after/before exposure) and urinary concentra-tions of chloroform at the end of exposure. As chloroform is a toxic and possibly carcinogenic substance, these observations pose a problem principally for the general population of pool users.
Highlights
This paper is concerned with bathing complexes consisting of one or more artificial pools for recreational, educational, sporting or therapeutic activity carried out in the water
Absorption of trihalomethanes during time spent at the pool was investigated by comparing urinary excretion of chloroform before and after exposure
This study shows that concentration of trihalomethanes in pool water vary as a consequence of the type of disinfectants used and of the impurities in the treatment reagents
Summary
This paper is concerned with bathing complexes consisting of one or more artificial pools for recreational, educational, sporting or therapeutic activity carried out in the water. Chemical agents in pool water depend on the type of water used to fill the pool. Among the chemical agents derived from bathers, nitrogen compounds, especially ammonia, react with free disinfectants to form various by-products. With regard to chemical agents from maintenance, a considerable number of compounds are used to keep water quality acceptable. Chlorine in one of its various forms is the most common Other disinfectants such as ozone and UV radiation kill or inactivate microorganisms at the time of treatment but do not have any residual effect that continues to act in the water. They are used with chlorine or bromine to provide continuous disinfection. Chlorine dioxide is not considered a chlorine disinfectant as it acts differently without producing residual chlorine, through conversion to chlorite
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