scholarly journals Water ingestion during swimming activities in a pool: A pilot study

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred P. Dufour ◽  
Otis Evans ◽  
Thomas D. Behymer ◽  
Ricardo Cantú
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Cyanuric Acid ◽  
The Body ◽  
Swimming Activity ◽  
Swimming Pool ◽  
Urinary Proteins ◽  
Analytical Methodology ◽  
Water Ingestion ◽  
Pool Water ◽  
Swimming Pool Water

Chloroisocyanurates are commonly added to outdoor swimming pools to stabilize chlorine disinfectants. The chloroisocyanurates decompose slowly to release chlorine and cyanuric acid. Studies conducted to determine if the chloroisocyanurates might be toxic to swimmers showed that they were not and that ingested cyanuric acid passed through the body unmetabolized. This fact was used to determine the amount of water swallowed during swimming activity. Fifty-three recreational swimmers, using a community swimming pool disinfected with cyanuric acid stabilized chlorine, participated in the study. The participants did not swim on the day before or after the test swim. The swimmers were asked to actively swim for at least 45 minutes and to collect their urine for the next 24 hours. Cyanuric acid was measured in pool water using high performance liquid chromatography and porous graphitic carbon columns with UV detection. The urine sample assay required a clean-up procedure to remove urinary proteins and interfering substances. Results of the study indicate that non-adults ingest about twice as much water as adults during swimming activity. The average amount of water swallowed by non-adults and adults was 37 ml and 16 ml, respectively. The design for this study and the analytical methodology used to assay cyanuric acid in swimming pool water and human urine were effective for measuring the volume of water swallowed during swimming activity.

scholarly journals Validation of Questionnaire Methods to Quantify Recreational Water Ingestion

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 2435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Suppes ◽  
Kacey Ernst ◽  
Leif Abrell ◽  
Kelly Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Cyanuric Acid ◽  
Swimming Pool ◽  
Recreational Water ◽  
Tracer Method ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Water Ingestion ◽  
Pool Water ◽  
Chemical Tracer ◽  
Swimming Pool Water ◽  
Validation Of Questionnaire

Swimming pool water ingestion volumes are necessary for assessing infection risk from swimming. Pool water ingestion volumes can be estimated by questionnaire or measuring a chemical tracer in swimmer urine. Questionnaires are often preferred to the chemical tracer method because surveys are less time consuming, but no research exists validating questionnaires accurately quantify pool water ingestion volumes. The objective of this study was to explore if questionnaires are a reliable tool for collecting pool water ingestion volumes. A questionnaire was issued at four pool sites in Tucson, Arizona to 46 swimmers who also submitted a urine sample for analyzing cyanuric acid, a chemical tracer. Perceived ingestion volumes reported on the questionnaire were compared with pool water ingestion volumes, quantified by analyzing cyanuric acid in swimmer urine. Swimmers were asked if they swallowed (1) no water or only a few drops, (2) one to two mouthfuls, (3) three to five mouthfuls, or (4) six to eight mouthfuls. One mouthful is the equivalent of 27 mL of water. The majority (81%) of swimmers ingested <27 mL of pool water but reported ingesting >27 mL (“one mouthful”) on the questionnaire. More than half (52%) of swimmers overestimated their ingestion volume. These findings suggest swimmers are over-estimating pool water ingestion because they perceive one mouthful is <27 mL. The questionnaire did not reliably collect pool water ingestion volumes and should be improved for future exposure assessment studies. Images of the ingestion volume categories should be included on the questionnaire to help swimmers visualize the response options.

Ingestion of swimming pool water by recreational swimmers

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Dufour ◽  
T. D. Behymer ◽  
R. Cantú ◽  
M. Magnuson ◽  
L. J. Wymer
Keyword(s):  
Cyanuric Acid ◽  
The Body ◽  
Swimming Activity ◽  
Swimming Pool ◽  
Urine Specimen ◽  
Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk ◽  
Pool Water ◽  
Study Population

The volume of water ingested by swimmers while swimming is of great interest to individuals who develop risk assessments using quantitative microbial risk assessment or epidemiological approaches. We have used chloroisocyanurate disinfected swimming pool waters to determine the amount of water swallowed by swimmers during swimming activity. The chloroisocyanurate, which is in equilibrium with chlorine and cyanuric acid in the pool water, provides a biomarker, cyanuric acid, that once swallowed passes through the body into the urine unchanged. The concentration of cyanuric acid in a 24 hour urine specimen and the concentration in pool water can be used to calculate the amount of water swallowed. Our study population of 549 participants, which was about evenly divided by gender, and young and adult swimmers, indicated that swimmers ingest about 32 mL per hour (arithmetic mean) and that children swallowed about four times as much water as adults during swimming activities. It was also observed that males had a tendency to swallow more water than females during swimming activity and that children spent about twice as much time in the water than adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document