Mutagenic Activity of Disinfection By-Products

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Brogan & Partners are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environmental Health Perspectives. Data on raw water quality, disinfection treatment practices, and the resulting mutagenic properties of the treated water were compiled from pilot-and full-scale treatment experiments to evaluate that parameter which might produce variability in the results of a mutagenic study.Analysis of the data and comparison of treatment practices indicated that the measured mutagenic activity is strongly related to the characteristics of the organic matter in the raw water, the methodology used to sample and detect mutagens, the scale of the study both in terms of treatment flow and period of study, and the point at which and the conditions under which oxidants are added during treatment.Conclusions regarding disinfection systems in full-scale water treatment plants include the following: When raw water is pretreated and high concentrations of organics are present in the raw water, both ozonation and chlorination increased mutagenic activity. However, no significant difference in mutagen? icity was found between the two oxidants.Both in the case of a nitrified groundwater and a clarified surface water, the mutagenic activity of the water after ozonation was related to its mutagenic activity before ozonation.With ozonation, mutagenic activity decreased after granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration. Thus, when GAC filtration follows ozone disinfection, early addition of oxidants may not be deleterious to the finished water quality. When chlorine or chlorine dioxide is added after GAC filtration, chlorine dioxide was found to produce a less mutagenic water than chlorine.Although these conclusions suggest means of controlling mutagenic activity during treatment, it must be stressed that the measurement of mutagenicity is a presumptive index of contamination level.This content downloaded from 62.122.79.69 on Wed

Pilot Scale Evaluation of Ozone and Other Drinking Water Disinfectants Using Mutagenicity Testing

“…Investigations involving the potential of ozone for producing mutagenic activity however are much less consistent, with reported levels ranging from those as high as for chlorination to virtually non-existent (Dolara et al, 1981;van der Gaag et al, 1982;Zoetemann et al, 1982;Bourbigot et al, 1983;Duguet et al, 1983;Meier and Bull, 1985;Cognet et al, 1985;Bourbigot et al, 1986). Studies which have incorporated granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration following disinfection have demonstrated that mutagenicity has usually been eliminated following this step (Bourbigot et al, 1983;van Hoof, 1983;Kruithof et al, 1985;Cognet et al, 1985;Bourbigot et al, 1986) and in some cases could not be detected even following TOC breakthrough (Monarca et al, 1983;Loper et al, 1985).…”

“…Studies which have incorporated granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration following disinfection have demonstrated that mutagenicity has usually been eliminated following this step (Bourbigot et al, 1983;van Hoof, 1983;Kruithof et al, 1985;Cognet et al, 1985;Bourbigot et al, 1986) and in some cases could not be detected even following TOC breakthrough (Monarca et al, 1983;Loper et al, 1985).…”

Water Disinfection: A Relationship Between Ozone and Aldehyde Production

“…Its decomposition products (hydroxyl free radicals) have an oxidant power superior to ozone itself, and in addition, it appears to form a much smaller amount of mutagens than either chlorine or its derivatives (3)(4)(5). On the other hand, ozonization of surface water containing organic substances (especially fulvic and humic acids), has been demonstrated to produce low molecular weight carbonyl compounds (6)(7)(8)(9).…”

Development of an Advanced Biological Treatment System Using Bioaugmentation Technology for the Treatment of Eutrophic Drinking Water Resources

“…Traditional drinking water treatment technologies, both physical and chemical, can successfully remove these pollutants; however, they also have limitations, such as the production of high levels of genotoxic byproducts [6,7]. Many researchers have demonstrated that the use of biological processes in drinking water treatment has many advantages over conventional alternatives, including high water recoveries, low operation cost and limited byproduct formation [8].…”