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EMERGING CONTAMINANTS: WHAT ARE THE CURRENT HOT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS AND WHAT IS NEXT?
Citation:
Richardson, S D. AND E. T. Furlong. EMERGING CONTAMINANTS: WHAT ARE THE CURRENT HOT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS AND WHAT IS NEXT? Presented at Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies Conference, Detroit, MI, October 7-12, 2001.
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:
Much has been achieved in the way of environmental protection over the last 30 years. Laws have been passed that have improved the quality of our rivers and streams, the quality of the air we breathe, and the quality of the water we drink. However, as we learn more, new concerns arise. This presentation will detail chemical and microbial contaminants that are of current concern to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies. Many of these contaminants of current concern (CCCs) are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Synthetic chemical classes in this CCC category directly or indirectly introduced into the environment include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, surfactants, methyl-t-butyl ether (MTBE), perchlorate, aluminum, organotins and nitrobenzene. Compounds formed directly or indirectly from anthropogenic activity include algal toxins and a range of newly identified drinking water disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), halonitromethanes, iodo-trihalomethanes, and brominated DBPs, such as the brominated forms of MX and bromodichloromethane. Although not chemical contaminants per se, pathogenic microorganisms, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Legionella, microsporidia, and Helicobacter pylori, are included because they co-occur with chemical contaminants and can have substantial effects on human health. 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. In 1998, a Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) was established, which explicitly identifies drinking water contaminants that might be regulated by EPA at a future date. Methods are available for many of the proposed contaminants; however, several contaminants do not have rugged, reliable methods. These issues will also be discusse