Effect of treated swimming pool water on the levels of trihalomethanes in swimmer's urine

Abstract

Swimming pools are considered to be the prime source for public exposure to trihalomethanes (THMs), mainly chloroform, because of their use for hygienic purposes. High doses of chlorine are easily perceptible by smell. The aim of this study was to measure simultaneously the THM levels in urine and blood of swimmers and in pool water itself (from city and university swimming pool), in order to investigate further the relationship between substances in different matrices at known environmental levels with uptake of these substances in indoor swimming pools. Volatile analytes were isolated and preconcentrated from the samples by thin layer headspace analysis (TLHS) with autogenous generation of the liquid sorbent. Chloroform, bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane were detected in the urine of all persons attending a swimming pool. Concentrations of THM compounds varied in the case of each swimmer. The research confirmed that approximately 10% of the volatile haloorganic compounds are excreted in urine in the unchanged form.

Keywords:

• Swimming pool
• trihalomethanes
• isolation
• preconcentration
• TLHS
• urine
• blood

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from Ministry of Scientific Research and Information Technology, The State Committee for Scientific Research (Project 3-T09A-141 28).