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SWIMMING IN INDOOR POOLS ACCELERATES THE CONCENTRATION OF CHLORINATION CONTAMINANTS IN SWIMMERS
Aggazzotti, G., Fantuzzi, G., Righi, E., & Predieri, G. (1998).
Blood and breath analyses as biological indicators of exposure to trihalomethanes in indoor swimming pools. Science of the Total Environment, 217, 155-163.
WHAT IS KNOWN
In this article, exposure to trihalomethanes (THMs) in indoor swimming pools as a consequence of water chlorination was reported.
Environmental and biological monitoring of THMs assessed the uptake of these substances after a defined period in competitive swimmers (N = 5), regularly attending an indoor swimming pool to train for competition during four sampling sessions. Analyses were performed by gas-chromatography and the following THMs were detected: chloroform (CHC13), bromodichloromethane (CHBrC12), dibromochloromethane (CHBrsC1) and bromoform (CHBr3). CHC13 appeared the most represented compound both in water and in environmental air before and after swimming.
After one hour of swimming, the THM uptake was approximately seven times higher than at rest: a THM mean uptake of 221 micrograms/h (177 micrograms/h, 26 micrograms/h and 18 micrograms/h for CHC13, CHBrC12 and CHBr2C1, respectively) was evaluated at an environmental concentration of approx. 200 micrograms/m3.
Implication. Training for swimming in a poorly ventilated indoor swimming pool has the potential to cause illness through breathing undesirable concentrations of mainly chloroform a by product of chlorinated swimming pools and organic materials.