Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Announcement: Release of CDC's 2016 Model Aquatic Health Code, Second Edition and Revised Hyperchlorination and Fecal Incident Response Recommendations

Weekly / July 22, 2016 / 65(28);720


Article Metrics

Views equals page views plus PDF downloads

Views:

Citations:

Altmetric:

Metric Details
View suggested citation

The 2016 Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC), Second Edition was released on July 15, 2016 (http://www.cdc.gov/mahc/editions/current.html). MAHC is national guidance that can be voluntarily adopted by state and local jurisdictions to minimize the risk for illness and injury at public aquatic facilities through facility design, construction, operation, maintenance, and management.

The 2016 MAHC reflects input from state and local public health colleagues, aquatics professionals, and other stakeholders who joined the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC*; http://www.cmahc.org). CMAHC collects, assesses, and relays input on MAHC revisions to CDC for consideration.

In October 2015, the first CMAHC biennial conference was held to review 159 proposed MAHC revisions. During November 21–December 20, 2015, CMAHC members voted and approved 92 (58%) revisions, including new or revised recommendations related to disinfection and water quality; lifeguarding and bather supervision; risk management and safety; and ventilation and air quality. In January 2016, the CMAHC director informed CDC of the voting results. The MAHC is updated every 2 years through this CMAHC–CDC revision process to ensure that the MAHC remains current and takes into account the latest scientific data and aquatics sector innovations.

An important change in the 2016 MAHC recommends that when hyperchlorinating to inactivate Cryptosporidium (the leading cause of aquatic facility–associated disease outbreaks) and in response to diarrheal incidents in the water (high-risk Cryptosporidium contamination events), concentrations of chlorine stabilizer† not exceed 15 ppm (1). Previous recommendations for hyperchlorinating and responding to diarrheal incidents in the presence of chlorine stabilizer permitted cyanuric acid concentrations of up to 50 ppm (2). Current CDC hyperchlorination and fecal incident response recommendations are aligned with the MAHC and are available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/aquatics-professionals/fecalresponse.html.

References

  1. Murphy JL, Arrowood MJ, Lu X, Hlavsa MC, Beach MJ, Hill VR. Effect of cyanuric acid on the inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum under hyperchlorination conditions. Environ Sci Technol 2015;49:7348–55. CrossRef PubMed
  2. Shields JM, Arrowood MJ, Hill VR, Beach MJ. The effect of cyanuric acid on the disinfection rate of Cryptosporidium parvum in 20-ppm free chlorine. J Water Health 2009;7:109–14. CrossRef PubMed

* Information on how to become a CMAHC member is available at http://www.cmahc.org/membership.php.

† Chlorine stabilizers include compounds such as cyanuric acid, dichlor, and trichlor.

Suggested citation for this article: Announcement: Release of CDC’s 2016 Model Aquatic Health Code, Second Edition and Revised Hyperchlorination and Fecal Incident Response Recommendations. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:720. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6528a4.

Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of the date of publication.

All HTML versions of MMWR articles are generated from final proofs through an automated process. This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr) and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.

Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.

Format:
TOP
window.CDC.Policy.External.init();