Cent Eur J Public Health 2026, 34(1):33-39 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8555

Human health risk assessment of trihalomethanes in outdoor swimming pool waters in Montenegro

Dijana Đurović1, 2, Nevena Cupara3, Irena Nikolić4, Milena Tadić4, Jelka Vuković3
1 Centre for Ecotoxicological Research, Podgorica, Montenegro
2 Faculty for Food Technology, Food Safety and Ecology, University Donja Gorica, Podgorica, Montenegro
3 Institute of Public Health of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
4 Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro

Objectives: This paper deals with the characterization of outdoor swimming pool waters to study the occurrence of trihalomethanes (THMs) and to assess the health risk of THMs exposure for three population groups (male, female, and children). The concentration of total THMs and individual species (chloroform, bromodichloromethane (BDCM), dibromochloromethane (DBCM), and bromoform) were monitored during the seven months of 2022 in outdoor swimming pools in the coastal area of Montenegro.

Methods: A total of 73 water samples from outdoor swimming pools were collected and tested for the content of THMs using an Agilent 7890 A GC. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks of total THMs and each species were assessed through lifetime cancer risk (CR) and hazard index (HI), respectively. Health risk assessment was assessed through the oral and dermal exposure pathways.

Results: The concentration of total THMs in investigated water samples ranged between 0.19 and 237.18 μg/L when 26% of tested water samples had values above the maximal permitted value (100 μg/L) established by Montenegrin legislation. Chloroform concentration was in a range of 1.13-217.16 μg/L, while contents of BDCM and DBCM were in a range of 1.01-29.43 μg/L and 0.18-16.19 μg/L, respectively. Calculated values of dermal CR were higher than 10-6, thus CR values of total THMs exposure were higher than 10-6 for all population groups. On the other hand, CR via ingestion values were meagre, HI values of total THMs exposure for three population groups were calculated to be below 1.

Conclusion: There is no non-carcinogenic risk for the children population while male and female populations were faced with non-carcinogenic health risk of total THMs exposure. On the other hand, all investigated population groups were faced with unacceptable cancer health risks and dermal contact was recognized as the main exposure route for all investigated populations.

Klíčová slova: swimming pool, trihalomethanes, health risk assessment, ingestion, dermal contact

Vloženo: 12. únor 2025; Revidováno: 12. říjen 2025; Přijato: 12. říjen 2025; Zveřejněno: 31. březen 2026  Zobrazit citaci

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Đurović D, Cupara N, Nikolić I, Tadić M, Vuković J. Human health risk assessment of trihalomethanes in outdoor swimming pool waters in Montenegro. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2026;34(1):33-39. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a8555.
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