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IDENTIFICATION OF NEW DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS IN DRINKING WATER
Citation:
Richardson, S D. IDENTIFICATION OF NEW DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS IN DRINKING WATER. Presented at Southeast/Southwest American Chemical Society Regional Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 6-8, 2000.
Impact/Purpose:
(1) Use toxicity-based approach to 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:
Due to concern over the potential adverse health effects of trihalomethanes (THMs) and other chlorinated by-products in chlorinated drinking water, alternative disinfectants are being explored. Ozone, chlorine dioxide, and chloramine are popular alternatives, as they produce lower levels of THMs. Millions of people drink water treated with these alternative disinfectants, yet there is still much not known about the disinfection by-products (DBPs) that they produce. Using a combination of mass spectra and infrared techniques, we have identified many new drinking water DBPs from these disinfectants and from chlorine that were not previously known. Drinking water studied includes water from Jefferson Parish, LA (with Mississippi River as the source water); Evansville, IN; Denver, CO; and Israel. These results will be presented, along with recent preliminary health effects research on some new DBPs.