Pool Users Research Articles

ISOLASI DAN IDENTIFIKASI FUNGI PATOGEN DI KOLAM RENANG KOTA TANGERANG

Swimming pool is a public facility that can be used as for recreation and exercise purposes. But the water quality is often left unknown. This research was aimed to isolate and identify the pathogenic fungi from the swimming pool in Tangerang City. It was a descriptive research with laboratory tests. The population in the study was the environment of Tangerang City swimming pool. Samples were taken by purposive sampling at several points of the pool, i.e. the pool water, tap water, shower room water, poolside, toilet wall and floor, and changing room. The results indicated that there was pathogenic fungi contamination in Tangerang City swimming pool. The pathogenic fungi were identified as mold and yeast, found in the swimming pool water: Aspergillus sp., Trichophyton sp.; shower room water: Penicillium sp., Mucor sp.; poolside: Penicillium sp.; toilet wall and floor:Mucor sp., Candida sp.; and changing room: Penicillium sp, Trichoderma sp, Candida sp. The presence of pathogenic fungi in this pool might be caused by contamination of fungal airborne spore, pool users, birds or cats droppings, as well as the temperature and humidity factors that support fungi growth.

KUALITAS BIOLOGIS AIR KOLAM RENANG UMUM DI KOTA TANGERANG

Various studies have shown that swimming pool mismanagement could serve as medium for water-borne diseases transmission. The research aimed to assess the biological quality of public swimming pool water in Tangerang city. One public swimming pool at the center of Tangerang city was assessed during November – December 2016 by adding two parameters to routine bacteriological indicators assessed by Tangerang city Heath Official in publicfacilities. Nine samples taken from three points in the swimming pool at three time periods, i.e. before, after, and during operational hours were analysed in the laboratory for detection and quantificaton of bacteriological indicators of swimming pool water, i.e. coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results showed that the number of total coliform and Escherichia coliof the public swimming pool exceeded WHO guidelines but not Peudomonas and Staphylococcus. Therefore,the disinfection, cleaning, and monitoring procedures need to be improved as well as increasing public swimming pool users education about the risk of potential transmissible diseases in public swimming pool.

Health-Related Behaviors in Swimming Pool Users: Influence of Knowledge of Regulations and Awareness of Health Risks.

Background: Swimming pool attendance exposes users to infection and chemical risks that could be largely reduced with the adoption of healthy behaviors. This study aims to investigate if the knowledge of swimming pool regulations and awareness of health risks can be associated with users’ health-related behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires to collect data from two different target groups of swimming users: 184 adults and 184 children/adolescents. The association between specific variables and patterns of behaviors and knowledge was assessed through multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Although more than 80% of both groups declared they knew the regulations, compliance with healthy behaviors was often unsatisfactory, especially in adolescents and youth. In the children/adolescents group, healthy behaviors significantly increased with the frequency of attendance per week. In both groups, compliance increased with educational level (of parents for children/adolescents), while no positive association was observed between viewing the regulations and adopting appropriate behaviors. In the adult group, a higher knowledge/awareness of health risks was related to decreased odds of at least one unhealthy behavior. Conclusions: Guaranteeing the public display of regulations in swimming facilities is not sufficient to promote and change health-related behaviors. Much more attention should be given to educational interventions aimed to increase knowledge of health risks and the awareness that bathers are directly responsible for their own well-being.

Degradation Products of Benzophenone-3 in Chlorinated Seawater Swimming Pools.

Oxybenzone (2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenone, benzophenone-3) is one of the UV filters commonly found in sunscreens. Its presence in swimming pools and its reactivity with chlorine has already been demonstrated but never in seawater swimming pools. In these pools, chlorine added for disinfection results in the formation of bromine, due to the high levels of bromide in seawater, and leads to the formation of brominated disinfection byproducts, known to be more toxic than chlorinated ones. Therefore, it seems important to determine the transformation products of oxybenzone in chlorinated seawater swimming pools; especially that users of seawater swimming pools may apply sunscreens and other personal-care products containing oxybenzone before going to pools. This leads to the introduction of oxybenzone to pools, where it reacts with bromine. For this purpose, the reactivity of oxybenzone has been examined as a function of chlorine dose and temperature in artificial seawater to assess its potential to produce trihalomethanes and to determine the byproducts generated following chlorination. Increasing doses of chlorine and increasing temperatures enhanced the formation of bromoform. Experiments carried out with excess doses of chlorine resulted in the degradation of oxybenzone and allowed the determination of the degradation mechanisms leading to the formation of bromoform. In total, ten transformation products were identified, based on which the transformation pathway was proposed.

Bacteriological Assessment of Water Quality of Public Swimming Pools in the Accra Metropolis, Ghana

Water is essential for life and in most parts of the world including Ghana it is used for various activities such as drinking, bathing and recreational purposes. The objective of this study was to assess the bacteriological quality of swimming pools’ water in the Accra Metropolis. Five swimming pools were selected randomly and a research team visited the pools to collect water samples and at the same time administer short questionnaires about the characteristics of the pools. The average number of swimmers, swimming bathing loads, average age group of pool users, methods of disinfection, type of chlorine used, recycling, and treatment of the water before and after use were investigated. During the visit, water samples were collected for total coliform, <em>Escherichia coli</em>, <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> and <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> counts using the Membrane Filtration (MF) method and cultured on chromogenic media. Most (60%) of the selected swimming pools had a bathing load≤20 per day. The operators of the pools disinfect their pools’ water with chorine but majority (60%) of the pool operators chlorinated their pools manually with powdered chlorine. The 20 water samples investigated show that 48% of swimming pools water was contaminated with <em>S. aureus</em>, 30.4% with <em>Ps. aeruginosa</em>, 20.9% with total coli form and 0.7% with <em>E. coli</em>. The <em>E. coli</em> count found in this study was very low indicating that the selected swimming pools were not feacally polluted at the time of sampling. It is recommended that future studies should use large sample sizes.

A positive association between cryptosporidiosis notifications and ambient temperature, Victoria, Australia, 2001-2009.

Increased temperatures provide optimal conditions for pathogen survival, virulence and replication as well as increased opportunities for human-pathogen interaction. This paper examined the relationship between notifications of cryptosporidiosis and temperature in metropolitan and rural areas of Victoria, Australia between 2001 and 2009. A negative binomial regression model was used to analyse monthly average maximum and minimum temperatures, rainfall and the monthly count of cryptosporidiosis notifications. In the metropolitan area, a 1 °C increase in monthly average minimum temperature of the current month was associated with a 22% increase in cryptosporidiosis notifications (incident rate ratio (IRR) 1.22; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.31). In the rural area, a 1 °C increase in monthly average minimum temperature, lagged by 3 months, was associated with a 9% decrease in cryptosporidiosis notifications (IRR 0.91; 95% CI 0.86-0.97). Rainfall was not associated with notifications in either area. These relationships should be considered when planning public health response to ecological risks as well as when developing policies involving climate change. Rising ambient temperature may be an early warning signal for intensifying prevention efforts, including appropriate education for pool users about cryptosporidiosis infection and management, which might become more important as temperatures are projected to increase as a result of climate change.

Beliefs about using an outdoor pool: Understanding perceptions of place in the context of a recreational environment to improve health

Following the Reasoned Action Approach, an online survey of 74 outdoor pool users illustrates how a theory-based behavioral analysis can be used to identify people׳s perceptions of a place in their environment. Regression analysis of close-ended data demonstrated that intention “to use the outdoor pool next summer season” was predicted (R2=.636, p<.0001) from the weighted combination of attitude (β=.663, p<.0001) and perceived control (β=.197, p<.05). The importance of attitude suggests that use can be encouraged by addressing advantages. The content analysis of open-ended elicitation data revealed that users believed that pool use provides physical, social, and emotional advantages and could be made easier by modifying facility parameters. Implications for promoting and designing public health spaces to attract users to aquatic environments and to improve health are discussed.

Comparison of chemical, biological and physical quality assessment of indoor swimming pools in Shahrekord City, Iran in 2013.

Previous studies have shown that mismanaged swimming pools could transmit water-borne diseases. The objective of the present study was the quality assessment of chemical, biological and physical characteristics of swimming pools in Shahrekord city, southwest of Iran.The two main indoor swimming pools of Shahrekord city were considered during the summer and winter of 2013. The number of 459 samples were analysed from swimming pools, showers and dressing rooms for chemical, biological and physical quality assessment. The most prevalent fungi were Aspergillus (48.91%), Penicillium (22.9%), Nocardia (11.31%), Cladosporium (8.41%). Rhizopus (6.18%), Scopulariopsis (6.21%), Fusarium (5.31%), and Mucor (1.38%). The most fungal contamination sites for both swimming pools were showers.Results showed that the values of total faecal coliform, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Legionalla, Escherichia coli and Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) for both swimming pools exceeded the guidelines, except for Staphylococcus aureus. The correlation coefficient between bathers load and total faecal coliform, heterotrophic bacteria was 0.949. The turbidity, free residual chlorine, and hardness of both swimming pools were not compliance with standard guidelines. Therefore, the improvement of disinfection and cleaning procedures is necessary, due to the different users and daily bather loads of each pool, as well as monitoring the water quality and increasing of the knowledge of swimming pool users on the risks of these potential diseases.

Environmentally Friendly Behavior in Greek Leisure Centers and Different Participants’ Characteristics

The aim of the present study was to investigate the environmentally friendly behaviour of people that participate in leisure and recreational activities. In particular to investigate changes in environmental friendly attitudes due to i) different demographic characteristics and ii) different preferences for participation at leisure or recreational activities. Even, to test the predictive ability of the particular environmental variables towards participants’ ‘word of mouth communication’ (WOM) for eco-friendly leisure centers. Three hundred and seventy seven individuals (scuba divers N=81, swimming pool users N=124 and beach swimmers N=172) completed the following scales: a) ‘eco-friendly policy’, b) ‘disposition to eco-friendly behavior’, c) ‘centers compliance to eco-friendly services’, and ‘WOM for eco-friendly leisure centers’. The reliability of the scales were tested successfully (Cronbach’s α= .78 < .89). Generally the results of the study supported that female, older in age and higher educated participants reported higher scores in all variables. Moreover statistical significant differences were revealed on ‘eco-friendly policy’ scale (p< .001), as scuba-diver and beach swimmer subgroups succeeded significantly higher scores than the swimming pool users. Relevant results appeared for the ‘centers compliance to eco-friendly services’ variable (p< .01), as scuba-diver subgroup scored significantly higher than the other subgroups. Finally all the three environmentally friendly scales (policy β=.20, compliance β=.26 and disposition β=.41) predicted statistically significant the ‘WOM for eco-friendly leisure centers’ (p<.001). The managerial and marketing implications of these results are extensively discussed.

Bioanalytical and chemical evaluation of disinfection by-products in swimming pool water

Pool water disinfection is vital to prevent microbial pathogens. However, potentially hazardous disinfection by-products (DBP) are formed from the reaction between disinfectants and organic/inorganic precursors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of DBPs in various swimming pool types in Brisbane, Australia, including outdoor, indoor and baby pools, and the dynamics after a complete water renewal. Chemical analysis of 36 regulated and commonly found DBPs and total adsorbable organic halogens as well as in vitro bioassays targeting cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and genotoxicity were used to evaluate swimming pool water quality. Dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid dominated in the pool water samples with higher levels (up to 2600 μg/L) than the health guideline values set by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (100 μg/L). Chlorinated DBPs occurred at higher concentrations compared to tap water, while brominated DBPs decreased gradually with increasing pool water age. Biological effects were expressed as chloroacetic acid equivalent concentrations and compared to predicted effects from chemical analysis and biological characterisation of haloacetic acids. The quantified haloacetic acids explained 35–118% of the absorbable organic halogens but less than 4% of the observed non-specific toxicity (cytotoxicity), and less than 1% of the observed oxidative stress response and genotoxicity. While the DBP concentrations in Australian pools found in this study are not likely to cause any adverse health effect, they are higher than in other countries and could be reduced by better hygiene of pool users, such as thorough showering prior to entering the pool and avoiding urination during swimming.

What about behaviours in swimming pools? Results of an Italian multicentre study

The behaviour of swimming pool users plays an important role in the prevention of chemical, microbial and physical risks associated with these recreational water environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hygiene-related behaviours and knowledge of users of indoor swimming pools in five Italian cities. A cross-sectional study was carried out using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The association between specific variables and patterns of behaviours and knowledge was assessed. A total of 4315 questionnaires were analysed. Of all respondents, 41.7% declared they had never read the swimming pool rules; 70.9% take a shower before entering the swimming pool; 13.5% said they urinated at least once in a swimming pool; 93.9% always wear proper footwear; 92.1% know what warts are and 69.3% know what mycosis is. A significant association was found between not reading the pool rules and unsafe behaviours, such as not showering (OR: 1.44, 95% CI 1.25–1.65), urinating in the pool (OR: 1.70, 95% CI 1.41–2.03) and not wearing any footwear (OR: 1.24, 95% CI 0.96–1.62). Male gender was significantly associated with urinating in the swimming pool (OR: 1.45, 95% CI 1.21–1.74) and not wearing footwear (OR: 1.71, 95% CI 1.32–2.23), but it showed to be protective against not showering (OR: 0.78, 95% CI 0.68–0.89). An age ≤18years was a risk factor for not reading the pool rules (OR: 2.32, 95% CI 2.05–2.63), not wearing footwear (OR: 2.16, 95% CI 1.67–2.82) and not knowing what mycosis (OR: 7.04, 95% CI 5.34–9.27) and warts (OR: 7.94, 95% CI 6.86–9.20) are. Results reveal that incorrect behaviours are widespread among swimming pool users and that there is little awareness of the importance of reading pool rules for reducing health risks.

Health Risk Evaluation of Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) for Indoor Swimming Pool Users via Life Cycle Impact Assessment Approach

Due to continuous disinfection and constant organic load from swimmers, indoor swimming pools constitute environments with high levels of DBPs in water and air, some of which are linked to human health concerns. The purpose of this study is to customize current global-scale or continental scale life cycle human health impact assessment models to indoor swimming pool applications and subsequently use the model to compare different operation scenarios, which can provide relatively straight forward ideas for possible mitigation strategies. A comparison study is carried out between “baseline” scenario and four specific ‘what-if’ scenarios (using alternative disinfectant, reducing precursors, increasing ventilation, and changing characteristics of the air-water surface). We build the indoor-scale model based on USEtox, the consensus environmental model for characterisation of human and ecotoxicological impacts in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). The model estimates the potential health risks for adults and children for 20 years during which age-specific intake factors change over time. The primary results indicated the impact from inhalation dominates the overall human health impact, while the dermal adsorption during swimming also makes significant contribution. The chloroform and trichloramine are identified as major stressors for inhalation human impact, while chloroform for dermal absorption impact. Through the scenario comparison, improving the ventilation of indoor swimming pools is an effect way to reduce the human health impact for all subjects. Another promising method is to control the precursors through increasing freshwater exchange, especially for the heavily-used pools. This study implies the choice of mitigation strategies should depend on the function and operation time of the pool. Through incorporating the proposed life cycle human health impact assessment model to the cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment studies, a systematic and comprehensive environmental profile of indoor swimming usage can be available.

Analysis of electric vehicle driver recharging demand profiles and subsequent impacts on the carbon content of electric vehicle trips

This paper quantifies the recharging behaviour of a sample of electric vehicle (EV) drivers and evaluates the impact of current policy in the north east of England on EV driver recharging demand profiles. An analysis of 31,765 EV trips and 7704 EV recharging events, constituting 23,805 h of recharging, were recorded from in-vehicle loggers as part of the Switch EV trials is presented. Altogether 12 private users, 21 organisation individuals and 32 organisation pool vehicles were tracked over two successive six month trial periods. It was found that recharging profiles varied between the different user types and locations. Private users peak demand was in the evening at home recharging points. Organisation individual vehicles were recharged primarily upon arrival at work. Organisation pool users recharged at work and public recharging points throughout the working day. It is recommended that pay-as-you-go recharging be implemented at all public recharging locations, and smart meters be used to delay recharging at home and work locations until after 23:00 h to reduce peak demand on local power grids and reduce carbon emissions associated with EV recharging.

HUBUNGAN SISA KLOR DENGAN KELUHAN IRITASI KULIT DAN MATA PADA PEMAKAI KOLAM RENANG HOTEL DI WILAYAH KOTA YOGYAKARTA

Background: Public places such as public baths and swimming pools are used as a gathering place by many people have potency to be a medium of disease transmission. Direct contact among visitors can transmit disease germs from one to the other visitors. Moreover, the contact can be a deployment medium of a disease. This study aimed to determine the relationship between chlorine residue with the complaints of skin and eye irritations of swimmingpool users in Yogyakarta hotels. Methods: The research was an observational analytic study by using cross sectional design. Sampling of the research uses systematic random sampling and consists of 48 respondents. Research tools used are questionnaires and laboratory tests. Data analysis uses univariate and bivariate analysis with a statistical test ChiSquare (X2). Results: Results of the study showed that 28 respondents (58.3%) have complaints and 20 respondents (41.7%) do not have complaints. From six water samples taken from swimming pool, 4 samples (66.7%) do not qualify and 2 samples (33.3%) are eligible. Bivariate analysis found that there was a significant relationship between chlorine residue with the complaints of skin and eye irritations of swimming pool users in Yogyakarta hotels (p = 0.038) smaller than alpha (? = 0.05), RP = 1,83. Conclusion: There was a relationship between residual chlorine with the complaints of skin and eye irritations of swimming pool users in Yogyakarta hotels. Keywords: Chlorine Residue, Skin and eye irritation complaints, Swimming Pool

Swimming pools and health-related behaviours: results of an Italian multicentre study on showering habits among pool users

ObjectivesShowering before entering a swimming pool is highly recommended to reduce the risk of biological and chemical contamination. This study evaluated the behaviour of indoor swimming pool users; analysed the variables associated with lack of showering; and assessed awareness of the importance of showering. Study designCross-sectional study. MethodsA self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about users of swimming pools located in five different Italian cities. The association between specific variables and the lack of showering was assessed. P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. ResultsIn total, 4356 questionnaires were analysed. Sixty-five percent of interviewees always showered before entering the pool. The main reason given for pre-swim showering was ‘to wash oneself’ (50.5%); or ‘to get used to the temperature of the water’ (44.3%); and 5.2% answered ‘for both reasons’. Risk factors significantly associated with lack of showering were: female sex (odds ratio (OR) 1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–1.59), age 14–17 years (OR 5.09, 95% CI 3.40–7.64); not reading the swimming pool rules (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.10–1.41); living in Central Italy (OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.65–4.1) or Southern Italy (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.18–1.55); and previous/current attendance of a swimming course (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.48–1.97). ConclusionsThe results revealed low compliance with the rule of showering before entering a swimming pool, and little awareness of the preventive role of showering in the hygienic management of swimming pools. There is a need for targeted educational interventions to inform swimming pool users of the reasons for the importance of showering before entering a pool.

대구지역 수영장 이용자의 피부와 눈 관련증상 경험률

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate skin and eye symptoms according to swimming pool user characteristics and chlorine concentration at indoor swimming pools in the Daegu region. Methods: A total of 296 swimming pool users were enrolled from the eight swimming pools randomly chosen in Daegu. Each user completed a self-administered questionnaire with general, swimming related, and symptoms suffered throughout December 2008 to August 2009. The water analysis of swimming pools was substituted with the swimming pool water analysis practiced by district offices to 2008. Results: There were significant differences in experience rate of self-reported skin and eye symptoms between coaches and students except dander. The users of swimming pools having higher chlorine concentrations suffered from more frequent skin and eye symptoms. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis for experience of skin symptoms showed that coaches (OR = 6.81, 95% CI: 2.46~18.81) and pools with chlorine concentrations over 0.4 mg/l (OR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.01~3.03) were the significant variables. For experience of eye symptoms, coaches (OR = 4.13, 95% CI: 1.25~13.69) at a swimming pool was the significant variable. Conclusions: Increased exposure to swimming pool water and exposure to swimming pool showed that higher chlorine concentration may cause more frequent skin and eye symptoms.

Knowledge, risk perception and behaviours in swimming pool users of Palermo city, Sicily

To assess knowledge, risk perception and behaviours of a sample of swimming pool users in Palermo. A total of 498 subjects were interviewed by self-administered anonymous questionnaire including socio-demographic questions, knowledge/risk perception and behaviours. Overall, 289 subjects (58%) had a mean of 1.9±1.2 healthy behaviours. Age older than 30 years (OR=0.46; 95% CI=0.26–0.81), female sex (OR=0.52; 95% CI=0.35–0.76) and a high knowledge score (OR=0.15; 95% CI=0.03–0.69) were significantly associated with having healthy behaviours in both univariate and multivariate analysis. Unhealthy behaviours can be frequently found in swimming pool bathers and, particularly, in some target groups. Public health prevention strategies should be implemented to improve public awareness and information on a safe use of recreational water environments.

Ten Questions Every Institution Should Ask Their Dark Pool Providers

In July 2008, Greenwich Associates surveyed 64 institutional investors that described themselves as active users of dark pools in North America and Europe to ask them about their practices, experiences, and intentions with regard to these emerging trading venues. The results revealed a significant proportion of institutional investors were “in the dark” about certain policies and practices of the broker-dealers and exchanges that provide dark liquidity. To help investors get the most out of these increasingly important trading venues—and to avoid costly mistakes—the authors compiled a list of 10 important questions that institutions should ask their broker-dealers and exchanges. <b>TOPICS:</b>Exchanges/markets/clearinghouses, information providers/credit ratings

Disinfection of swimming pools with chlorine and derivatives: formation of organochlorinated and organobrominated compounds and exposure of pool personnel and swimmers

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.

Derivation of a toxicity reference value for nitrogen trichloride as a disinfection by-product

Nitrogen trichloride is a highly volatile chlorination disinfection by-product, very commonly found in the air of indoor swimming pools. The aim of this work is to characterize the hazard associated with it and to determine the concentration at which health effects appear, for application in health risk assessments for users of indoor swimming pools. Hazard identification was based on a literature survey and analysis of animal and human studies, with special attention paid to their methodological quality and to reports of a dose-response relationship. A toxicity reference value was derived for respiratory effects, based on human data from both general and occupational data. We selected a lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level of 0.355mg/m(3) based on objective measurements rather than self-reported effects. Two uncertainty factors were applied to take into account both intra-species variability and the use of a concentration with an effect rather than a no-observed-adverse-effect-level. A toxicity reference value of 4x10(-3)mg/m(3) for nitrogen trichloride is proposed for repeated short exposures. Alternative values based on animal data range from 0.01 to 0.03mg/m(3).