Air samples from 23 indoor swimming pools in the Rhein-Neckar district were collected into evacuated stainless steel bombs and analyzed for their haloform content. Chloroform was detected as the major trihalomethane component. The chloroform concentrations measured in indoor swimming pool air ranged from 12 to 264 μg/m 3. In addition, some aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in the air. Parallel analysis of the swimming pool water, accord ing to DIN 19643 (German Guidelines for the Analysis of Swimming Pool Water), for the chloroform content and the adsorbable organic halogen com pound content did not reveal any correlation with the concentration of chloro form in the air. Concurrent measurements by infrared spectroscopy were also carried out. This method, however, proved to be ineffective in comparison with the gas chromatographic method as these measurements gave values that were higher by a factor of 100, a potential cause being the other hydrocarbons detected, which absorb in the same region of the infrared spectrum as chloro form. The chloroform concentrations measured in indoor swimming pool air over a period of 16 h correlate with the number of visitors present. The intake of chloroform by each visitor during their stay is primarily by inhalation com pared with a much smaller amount by absorption from the water.
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