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DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY EVALUATION OF WATER FROM ALTERNATIVE DISINFECTION SCENARIOS
Citation:
Narotsky, M G., D S. Best, E H. Rogers, A McDonald, Y M. Sey, E S. Hunter III, L K. Teuschler, R J. Miltner, T F. Speth, G Rice, K. M. Schenk, S. D. Richardson, M. C. Marr, AND J E. Simmons. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY EVALUATION OF WATER FROM ALTERNATIVE DISINFECTION SCENARIOS. Presented at Teratology Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ, June 22-27, 2002.
Description:
NAROTSKY1, M.G., D.S. BEST1, E.H. ROGERS1, A. McDONALD1, Y.M. SEY1, E.S. HUNTER III 1, L.K. TEUSCHLER2, R.J. MILTNER3, T.F. SPETH3, G. RICE2, K.M. SCHENCK3, S.D. RICHARDSON4, M.C. MARR5, and J.E. SIMMONS1. 1US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; 2EPA, National Center for Environmental Assessment; 3EPA, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH; 4EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Athens, Georgia; and 5Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Developmental toxicity evaluation of water from alternative disinfection scenarios.
Epidemiological and animal toxicity studies have raised concerns regarding possible adverse health effects of disinfectant by-products (DBPs) found in drinking water. The classes and concentrations of DBPs are influenced by the choice of disinfection process (e.g., chlorination vs. ozonation) as well as source water characteristics (e.g., pH, total organic carbon, bromide content). Disinfected water has been found to contain more than 500 compounds, many of which remain unidentified. Therefore, we are using a "whole-mixture" approach to evaluate the toxic potential of alternative disinfection scenarios. As a pilot study for a planned multigenerational reproductive study, we conducted a Chernoff/Kavlock assay to evaluate the developmental toxicity of the complex mixtures produced by different disinfection processes. Water was obtained from Harsha Lake, Ohio; spiked with iodide and bromide; and disinfected with either chlorine ("chlorination") or an ozone/post-chlorination system ("ozonation"), producing finished drinking water suitable for human consumption. These waters were concentrated ~100 fold by reverse osmosis. To the extent possible, volatile DBPs lost in the concentration process were spiked back into the concentrate. These concentrates were then provided as drinking water to Sprague-Dawley rats on gestation days 6-16; controls received boiled distilled water. The dams (19-20 per group) were allowed to deliver and their litters were examined on postnatal days (PD) 1 and 6. All dams delivered normally, with parturition occurring slightly, but significantly, earlier in the ozonation group. However, no effects on prenatal survival, postnatal survival, or pup weight were evident. Skeletal examination of the PD-6 pups also revealed no treatment effects. Thus, ~100X concentrations of both ozonated and chlorinated water appeared to have no adverse developmental effects in this study. [This abstract does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.]