Progress in Analytical Methods of Halogenated Disinfection By-Products

Ensuring the health and safety of drinking water is crucial for both nations and their citizens.Since the 20th century,the disinfection of drinking water,effectively controlling pathogens in water sources,has become one of the significant advances in public health.However,the disinfectants used in the process,such as chlorine and chlorine dioxide,react with natural organic matter in the water to produce disinfection by-products(DBPs).Most of these DBPs contain chlorine,and if the source water contains bromine or iodine,brominated or iodinated DBPs,collectively referred to as Halogenated disinfection byproducts(X-DBPs),are formed.Numerous studies have found that X-DBPs pose potential risks to human health and the environment,leading to widespread concern.Mass spectrometry has become an important means of discovering new types of X-DBPs.This paper focuses on the study of methods for analyzing X-DBPs in drinking water using mass spectrometry.

Evaluation of N-acetylcysteine and glutathione as quenching agents for the analysis of halogenated disinfection by-products

Disinfection by-products(DBPs), formed from the reactions of disinfectants with natural organic matter and halides in drinking water, were considered to be cytotoxic and genotoxic, and might trigger various cancers. The relatively low concentration of DBPs in finished water(low μg/L or even ng/L levels) and the interference from water matrix inhibited in situ determination of DBPs. Moreover, the further formation and degradation of DBPs by disinfectants during the holding time(several hours to several days) from sample collection to analysis could adversely affect the determination of DBPs. To obtain accurate, precise and reliable data of DBP occurrence and formation, robust and reliable sample preservation is indispensable. However, the commonly used quenching agents(e.g., sodium sulfite, sodium thiosulfate, and ascorbic acid) for sample preservation can decompose reactive DBPs by reductive dehalogenation. This study evaluated the performance of N-acetylcysteine(NAC) and glutathione(GSH) as quenching agents for the analysis of halogenated DBPs by investigating the stoichiometry of the disinfectant-quenching agent reaction, the formation of DBPs during chlor(am)ination of NAC or GSH, and the effects of NAC or GSH on the stability of 18 individual DBPs and total organic halogen(TOX). Based on the results of this study, NAC and GSH were considered to be ideal quenching agents for the analysis of most DBPs and TOX, except halonitromethanes.

Carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation in the surface and ground water treatment plants using Yellow River as water source

This work investigated the formation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-products （C-DBPs, N-DBPs） upon chlorination of water samples collected from a surface water and a ground water treatment plant （SWTP and GWTP） where the conventional treatment processes, i.e., coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration were employed. Twenty DBPs, including four trihalomethanes, nine haloacetic acids, seven N-DBPs （dichloroacetamide, trichloroacetamide, dichloroacetonitrile, trichloroacetonitrile, bromochloroace- tonitrile, dibromoacetonitrile and trichloronitromethane）, and eight volatile chlorinated compounds （dichloromethane （DCM）, 1,2-dichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene and 1,2,4- trichlorobenzene） were detected in the two WTPs. The concentrations of these contaminants were all below their corresponding maximum contamination levels （MCLs） regulated by the Standards for Drinking Water Quality of China （GB5749-2006） except for DCM （17.1 ~tg/L detected vs. 20 μg/L MCL）. The SWTP had much higher concentrations of DBPs detected in the treated water as well as the DBP formation potentials tested in the filtered water than the GWTP, probably because more precursors （e.g., dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen） were present in the water source of the SWTE

吹扫捕集-三重四级杆气质联用测定生活饮用水中9种含氮消毒副产物

建立吹扫捕集-三重四级气质联用测定饮用水中6种卤乙腈、3种卤代硝基甲烷消毒副产物(DBPs)的方法,并了解本市饮用水中目标DBPs的浓度水平。优化吹扫捕集条件,气质联用条件建立检测方法,并对日常饮用水、原水样品进行检测,选用10#捕集阱(2,6-二苯基对苯醚/硅胶/碳分子筛),选用DB-VRX色谱柱,对比25 mL吹扫管与5 mL吹扫管前处理灵敏度,确定吹脱时间为11 min,捕集阱温度为40℃,捕集阱热脱附温度为190℃,传输线温度为115℃,烘烤时间为10 min,吹扫流量为40 mL/min。在多反应监测(SRM)模式下检测,外标法定量。结果表明,各个物质线性范围良好,r>0.996,方法检出限(LODs)为0.051~0.14μg/L,定量限为0.25~0.56μg/L,两种不同浓度加标回收率为70.2%~117.0%,相对标准偏差为2.45%~10.50%。该方法高效、灵敏、操作简单,对卤乙腈、卤代硝基甲烷等DBPs能进行有效检测。对出厂水、管网水进行检测,不同消毒工艺次氯酸钠、液氯和二氧化氯消毒时,卤乙腈检出质量浓度不同,为ND~3.20μg/L,卤代硝基甲烷未检出。

A new technique helps to uncover unknown peptides and disinfection by-products in water

Environmental water samples can be extremely complex,with potentially thousands of molecules that can derive from natural organic matter（NOM）and thousands that derive from anthropogenic contaminants.As complex as these samples are,drinking water can be even more complex.Due to disinfectants that are used to treat drinking water（e.g.,chlorine,chloramines,

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes： Formation potential and integrated toxicity

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials（FPs） of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products（DBPs）（including carbonaceous DBPs（C-DBPs）, nitrogenous DBPs（N-DBPs）, and iodinated DBPs（I-DBPs）） with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment（coagulation–sedimentation, pre-sand filtration）, ozone-biological activated carbon（O_3-BAC） advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated.The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide,and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O_3-BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON.After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles（HANs）》haloacetamides（HAMs） 〉haloacetic acids（HAAs） 〉 trihalomethanes（THMs） 〉 halonitromethanes（HNMs） 》I-DBPs（I-HAMs and I-THMs）. I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored.

Total organic halogen(TOX) in human urine: A halogen-specific method for human exposure studies

Disinfection by-products（DBPs） are a complex mixture of compounds unintentionally formed as a result of disinfection processes used to treat drinking water. Effects of long-term exposure to DBPs are mostly unknown and were the subject of recent epidemiological studies. However,most bioanalytical methods focus on a select few DBPs. In this study, a new comprehensive bioanalytical method has been developed that can quantify mixtures of organic halogenated compounds, including DBPs, in human urine as total organic chlorine（TOCl）, total organic bromine（TOBr）, and total organic iodine（TOI）. The optimized method consists of urine dilution, adsorption to activated carbon, pyrolysis of activated carbon, absorption of gases in an aqueous solution, and halide analysis with ion chromatography and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Spike recoveries for TOCl, TOBr, and TOI measurements ranged between 78% and 99%. Average TOCl, TOBr, and TOI concentrations in five urine samples from volunteers who consumed tap water were 1850, 82, and 21.0 μg/L as X^-, respectively.Volunteers who consumed spring water（control） had TOCl, TOBr, and TOI average concentrations in urine of 1090, 88, and 10.3 μg/L as X^-, respectively. TOCl and TOI in the urine samples from tap water consumers were higher than the control. However, TOBr was slightly lower in tap water urine samples compared to mineral water urine samples, indicating other sources of environmental exposure other than drinking water. A larger sample population that consumes tap water from different cities and mineral water is needed to determine TOCl, TOBr, and TOI exposure from drinking water.

饮用水中卤代含氮消毒副产物检测及生成研究进展

饮用水中卤代含氮消毒副产物(N-DBPs)是一类具有致癌、致畸、致突变等“三致”特性的消毒副产物。调研总结了世界范围内饮用水中卤代N-DBPs浓度水平及分布情况,汇总分析了卤乙腈、卤代硝基甲烷、卤代乙酰胺等前处理技术以及检测方法,系统比较了三类卤代N-DBPs的主要前体物和生成机制,提出了饮用水中卤代N-DBPs在检测分析与生成控制等方面的未来研究方向。