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HEALTH EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION OF RENOVATED WATER: CHEMISTRY AND CYTOTOXICITY
Citation:
Chappell, W., C. Solomons, H. Walton, AND W. Weston. HEALTH EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION OF RENOVATED WATER: CHEMISTRY AND CYTOTOXICITY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/1-79/014.
Description:
The objective of the research has been to develop methods to separate, identify, and measure volatile and non-volatile compounds found in secondary wastewater effluent, and to test the suitability of the cytotoxicological assay for the substances found. Identification and measurement of volatile organics were achieved, and known substances were submitted for toxicological testing. Non-volatile substances were concentrated and fractionated and submitted for both toxicological and Ames mutagenicity testing. Toxicity testing utilized the effect of the fractions on both metabolic and bactericidal cellular activity. The use of platelets proved to be the most suitable because of their stability and correlation with gross human toxicity rankings. The less polar and non-polar fractions produced toxic responses in both metabolic and bactericidal assays. An initial set of samples submitted for mutagenicity testing showed definite activity in the more polar fractions. A second series of samples submitted for confirmatory testing showed no activity, indicating that the concentration of mutagens varies significantly with time.