{"id":3728,"date":"2012-03-25T07:55:46","date_gmt":"2012-03-25T12:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gochemless.com\/?p=1727"},"modified":"2022-10-24T21:16:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T21:16:58","slug":"industry-news-studies-link-cancer-and-chlorination-byproducts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/swimming-pool-news-and-tips-blog\/industry-news-studies-link-cancer-and-chlorination-byproducts\/","title":{"rendered":"INDUSTRY NEWS Studies Link Cancer and Chlorination Byproducts."},"content":{"rendered":"

INDUSTRY NEWS Studies Link Cancer and Chlorination Byproducts –\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Three recent studies have linked some chemicals found in pool and spa water with cancer.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the Barcelona-based Centre of Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) and Research Institute Hospital del Mar, along with a scientist from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released three papers that correlate certain byproducts of chlorine sanitizers with bladder cancer.<\/p>\n

The chemicals are common sanitation byproducts, and the studies have focused on the potential health effects of their presence in the water of indoor pool and spa facilities.<\/p>\n

One of the papers also finds ties between regular indoor pool use and respiratory problems. The results were headlined in a front-page article on the popular health Website WebMD.com.<\/p>\n

The studies make few specific recommendations for pool owners and operators, but they tend to focus on chlorine \u2014 or, rather, its byproducts \u2014 as the source of the problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to differentiate the application from the root cause,\u201d said Ed Lightcap, a senior account manager at DuPont Chemical in Wilmington, Del. \u201cChlorine has not done humans a disservice overall; it\u2019s extended our longevity by killing infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though WebMD undoubtedly will increase the studies\u2019 media exposure, this research serves mainly to confirm existing conclusions.\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s much more confirming that, yes, these things [can] cause problems,\u201d Lightcap said. \u201cIt\u2019s expanded confirmation that these things do happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The culprit in the cancer issue is the chemical compound class called trihalomethanes, or THMs. Above certain exposure levels, these compounds have been scientifically shown to lead to cancer in people and animals, Lightcap said. \u201cIn humans, bladder cancer seems to be the most common manifestation,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Though water-transmitted THMs have been linked to bladder cancer in previous studies, Lightcap said, \u201ctypically [it\u2019s discussed] in relation to shower water. Lately, some research has been focusing on pools, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several past studies also have correlated asthmatic symptoms and lung damage with inhalation of chloramines in\u00a0 indoor pool environments. Because THMs are byproducts of chlorine sanitization,\u00a0 researchers\u00a0 in one of the studies determined that the presence of THMs in samples of exhaled air indicated the presence of chloramines in those swimmers\u2019 lungs.<\/p>\n

The scientists also tracked a certain substance in the body, known as CC16, that can pass from the lungs into the bloodstream at a variable rate. \u201cThe more that\u2019s passing through the lung membrane into the blood, the more damage to the liner of the lungs that\u2019s indicating,\u201d Lightcap said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to get all the way to asthma,\u201d he added, \u201cI don\u2019t know. That could be anecdotal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Increased lung permeability also could be explained by temporary changes that the body\u2019s respiratory system undergoes during physical activity. \u201cOxidative stress [during exercise] will cause damage to certain lung cells,\u201d said Thomas Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of the National Swimming Pool Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo. \u201cBut that\u2019s normal, and even positive in many ways. And the body is continually repairing that damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Progress in the direction of practical health solutions may be quicker if researchers focus not only the chemical itself, but on dosage patterns. \u201cIt isn\u2019t chlorine,\u201d Lightcap said. \u201cIt\u2019s the way chlorine is used. A well-ventilated facility with a chlorine residual maintained around 1 ppm is probably the best-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

The simplest solution may be to get proactive: A well-cleaned pool is much less likely to require higher levels of chlorine. And many THMs can be significantly reduced by keeping water regularly filtered or scooped for organic contaminants.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s becoming clear that these pool-related health concerns will not simply disappear anytime soon. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that people in our industry get out ahead of it,\u201d Lachocki said. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that retailers, service technicians, and facility operators receive verifiable training, so they\u2019re at least aware of these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Ben Thomas | 9.23.2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.poolspanews.com\/2010\/101\/101n_cancer.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INDUSTRY NEWS Studies Link Cancer and Chlorination Byproducts –\u00a0 Three recent studies have linked some chemicals found in pool and spa water with cancer. Researchers from the Barcelona-based Centre of Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) and Research Institute Hospital del Mar, along with a scientist from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released three papers that … Continue reading INDUSTRY NEWS Studies Link Cancer and Chlorination Byproducts.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[68],"tags":[105,106,107],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3728"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3894,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions\/3894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/gochemless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}