Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42, 1032–1037
Nitrosamine Carcinogens Also Swim in Chlorinated Pools SPENCER S. WALSE AND WILLIAM A. MITCH* Department of Chemical Engineering, Mason Laboratory 313b, Yale University, 9 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
Received September 13, 2007. Revised manuscript received November 27, 2007. Accepted December 6, 2007.
Highly carcinogenic N-nitrosodialkylamine (nitrosamine) disinfection byproducts were quantified in chlorinated swimming pools, hot tubs, and aquaria. N-Nitrosodimethylamine, the most abundant nitrosamine detected, was measured in swimming pools and hot tubs at levels up to 500-fold greater than the drinking water concentration of 0.7 ng/L associated with a one in one million lifetime cancer risk. Temperature, enclosure, amine and nitrite precursor loading, and the use of disinfection schemes with reduced chlorine doses contributed to statistically significant variability in its occurrence. NNitrosodibutylamine and N-nitrosopiperidine were also detected but together represented
