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EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY
Citation:
RICHARDSON, S. D. EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY. Presented at 58th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Chicago, IL, February 25 - March 02, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
(1) Use a toxicity-based approach to prioritize and identify DBPs that show the greatest toxic response. (2) Comprehensively identify DBPs formed by different disinfectant regimes for the 'Four Lab Study'. (3) Determine the mechanisms of formation for potentially hazardous bromonitromethane DBPs.
Description:
Much has been achieved in the way of environmental protection over the last 30 years. However, as we learn more, new concerns arise. This presentation will discuss emerging contaminants that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies are currently concerned about and will discuss the achievements being made with mass spectrometry, along with the challenges in measuring these contaminants. Included in this group of emerging contaminants are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and other perfluorinated compounds, pharmaceuticals, pesticide degradation/reaction products, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs); emerging drinking water pollutants, such as perchlorate, organotins, and algal toxins; and new drinking water disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), iodo-acids, iodo-trihalomethanes, and bromonitromethanes. Many of these contaminants have been proposed for consideration under the Unregulated Contaminants Monitoring Rule, which requires EPA to select five or more contaminants every five years to consider for regulation. Also, several of these are listed or being considered for EPA's Contaminant Candidate List (CCL), which identifies drinking water contaminants that might be regulated by EPA at a future date. Analytical methods are available for many of the proposed contaminants; however, several contaminants do not have rugged, reliable methods. The status and issues with these chemical contaminants will be discussed.