Chemical and Pathogenic Contaminant Exposure: Disinfection By-Products

One of the most successful public health advances of the 20th century was due to the disinfection of public drinking water supplies. However, successes are often accompanied by unintended consequences in human-health protection activities. Naturally occurring organic matter in sources of drinking water can react with disinfection chemicals to produce a variety of by-products that may inadvertently increase the toxicity of the treated drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed drinking water standards for disinfection chemicals and their by-products.

 U.S. Geological Survey research is providing data and information on the role of natural organic compounds in various hydrogeologic environments and subsequent disinfection by-product formation.

In Drinking Water

• Drinking-Water Disinfection By-products and Activities in California

Environmental occurrence, fate and transport of disinfection by-products and pre-cursors:

• Fate of disinfection by-products in Ground Water
• Peat soils as a source of disinfection by-product pre-cursors
• Precursors in a water-supply watershed in Virginia

Other Sources of USGS Information on Disinfection By-Products

• Organic carbon migration in the aquatic environment
• Comprehensive organic carbon analyses in water
• Chemical transformations in water reclamation and reuse

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://health.usgs.gov/dw_contaminants/by_products.html
Page Contact Information: Herb Buxton
Page Last Modified: 15-Jun-2006@08:37