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COMPONENT-BASED AND WHOLE-MIXTURE TECHNIQUES FOR ADDRESSING THE TOXICITY OF DRINKING-WATER DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT MIXTURES
Citation:
Simmons, J E., L K. Teuschler, C. Gennings, T F. Speth, S D. Richardson, R J. Miltner, M G. Narotsky, K D. Schenck, E I. Hunter, R. C. Hertzberg, AND G Rice. COMPONENT-BASED AND WHOLE-MIXTURE TECHNIQUES FOR ADDRESSING THE TOXICITY OF DRINKING-WATER DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT MIXTURES. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 67(8-10):741-754, (2004).
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:
Chemical disinfection of water is of direct public health benefit as it results in decreased waterborne illness. The chemicals used to disinfect water react with naturally occurring organic matter, bromide and iodide in the source water, resulting in the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Despite the identification of several hundred DBPs, more than 50% of the mass of total organic halide formed during chlorination remains unidentified. The toxic contribution of the DBPs that are formed and present but not yet chemically identified, the unidentified fraction, has been largely unexplored. A better understanding of the potential for adverse human health consequences associated with exposure to the DBPs present in drinking water will be gained by integration of knowledge on the toxicity of: individual DBPs; simple, defined DBP mixtures; complex, environmentally-realistic DBP mixtures with partial chemical characterization; and, the unidentified fraction.