Minneapolis high school swimmer invents portable device to measure chloramine levels

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Minneapolis high school swimmer invents portable device to measure chloramine levels Indoor pools can have a distinct odor caused by chlorine binding to body waste.

+ National Minneapolis high school swimmer invents portable device to measure chloramine levels June 20, 20267:40 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday By Diantha Parker , Noah Bloch Minneapolis high school swimmer invents portable device to measure chloramine levels Listen &middot; 3:43 3:43 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5836698/nx-s1-9818198" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Indoor pools can have a distinct odor caused by chlorine binding to body waste. A Minnesota student invented a device to measure chloramine levels. Sponsor Message SCOTT SIMON, HOST: If you've been to an indoor pool, you probably know the distinct scent of what many of us think is chlorine, but that pungent odor comes from chloramines, chemical compounds formed when chlorine mixes with body fluids, like sweat. That can be harmful if inhaled for long periods of time. Chloramine levels are difficult to measure. Pools generally don't test for them. However, thanks to a Minneapolis high school swimmer, that could soon change. Noah Bloch from member station MPR reports.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING) NOAH BLOCH, BYLINE: Here at a YMCA in Fargo, North Dakota, swimmers glide and splash across the water in the early morning. There's a faint chemical smell in the air, one that is all too familiar to 17-year-old Aditi Gandhi. She swims competitively for her high school and club team, spending hours in the pool almost every day during the swim season. ADITI GANDHI: I've been a competitive swimmer pretty much my entire life. BLOCH: In fact, Gandhi has been swimming since she was 4 years old. She says, not only is it great exercise. She's also made lots of friends on her swim team. But despite her love for swimming, sometimes it has caused her some discomfort. GANDHI: And I started noticing that after long practices, I would feel very sick. BLOCH: She says the air felt heavy, and no matter how deep she breathed in, she couldn't quite catch her breath. Something was just not right. So she started to do some digging and found out about chloramines. Gas is formed when chlorine used in pools reacts with nitrogen-containing compounds, like urine, sweat or personal care products. GANDHI: I learned is linked to a lot of the asthma and respiratory irritation faced by swimmers. Every time a swimmer takes a breath while swimming, they're breathing that in. BLOCH: Chloramines can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and Gandhi suspected that they were the source of her breathing issues. But she wanted to make sure by testing the pool air. However, she discovered that there isn't a simple way to test the air for chloramines without expensive lab equipment. So she invented a device using two sensors to test for conditions associated with chloramines, like temperature and relative humidity. GANDHI: It doesn't require much brain power to calibrate either. You just have to leave it overnight, and it will do the work for you. BLOCH: Gandhi reached out to toxicologist and former University of Minnesota swimmer Dr. Avery Michienzi for help with her device. Michienzi says that during her time as a swimmer, chloramine exposure was a serious problem for her team. And so she was very excited to hear about the invention. AVERY MICHIENZI: I thought it was very amazing, very impressive endeavor for a high school student to do and I think something that could potentially have a big health impact as well. BLOCH: This summer, high school student Gandhi plans to take her prototypes around to different pools to collect more data to prove that her product can make a difference for swimmers like herself. GANDHI: I want to continue working with the toxicologist, Dr. Avery from UVA, and create a research paper and write one on chloramines and their effects. (SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING) BLOCH: In the meantime, health officials say that the best way to prevent chloramine exposure is for swimmers to shower before swimming and avoid urinating in the pool. Pool operators should also make sure their ventilation system for indoor pools is running smoothly. For NPR News, I'm Noah Bloch, Moorhead, Minnesota. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();