Introduction

It has been postulated that swimming in heated indoor swimming pools in the first year of life is associated with the development of spinal deformity in children. We explored in pup mice whether exposure to certain disinfection by-products resulting from chlorination of heated pools would affect the future development of the spinal column.

Methods

Mice, from birth and for 28 consecutive days, were exposed to chemicals known to be created by disinfection by-products of indoor heated swimming pools. The study made use of a body fluid analogue and a chlorine source to recreate the conditions found in municipal pools. A cohort of 51 wild-type C57B6 mice, male and female, were divided into two groups: experimental (n = 29) and controls (n = 22). 24 mice were observed for 8 months (32 weeks), with 27 culled at 4 months (16 weeks). Serial CT scanning was used to assess the spines.

Results

Exposure to disinfection by-products resulted in an increase in the normal thoracic kyphotic spinal angle of the mice when compared with their controls at 10 weeks; experimental mice kyphosis range 35–82° versus 29–38° in controls. At 14 weeks the kyphosis of the experimental mice had reduced in size but never to that of the control group.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated the ability to influence spinal development in pup mice through environmental factors and shown that the developmental deformity became evident only after a significant latent period.

中文翻译：

---

室内温水游泳池氯化副产物的吸入对幼鼠脊柱发育的影响

介绍

据推测，在儿童出生后第一年在室内温水游泳池游泳与儿童脊柱畸形的发展有关。我们在幼鼠中探索了暴露于某些因加热池氯化而产生的消毒副产物是否会影响脊柱的未来发展。

方法

小鼠从出生开始就连续28天接触已知由室内温水游泳池消毒副产物产生的化学物质。该研究利用体液类似物和氯源重现了市政泳池中的状况。将51只野生型C57B6雄性和雌性小鼠分为两组：实验组（n = 29）和对照组（n = 22）。观察到24只小鼠共8个月（32周），其中27只在4个月（16周）被淘汰。连续CT扫描用于评估脊柱。

结果

当暴露于消毒副产物时，与对照组相比，小鼠在10周时的正常胸椎后凸脊角增加了。实验小鼠后凸畸变范围为35–82°，而对照组为29–38°。在第14周，实验小鼠的后凸畸形已减小，但从未减小至对照组。

结论

我们已经证明了通过环境因素影响幼鼠脊柱发育的能力，并表明仅在显着的潜伏期之后，发育畸形才变得明显。