Comparison of the yields of mono-, Di- and tri-chlorinated HAAs and THMs in chlorination and chloramination based on experimental and quantum-chemical data

Revisiting the chloramination of phenolic compounds: Formation of novel high-molecular-weight nitrogenous disinfection byproducts

Disinfection is critical for ensuring water safety; however, the potential risks posed by disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have raised public concern. Previous studies have largely focused on low-molecular-weight DBPs with one or two carbon atoms, leaving the formation of high-molecular-weight DBPs (HMW DBPs, with more than two carbon atoms) less understood. This study explores the formation of HMW DBPs during the chloramination of phenolic compounds using a novel approach that combines high-resolution mass spectrometry with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For the first time, we identified nearly 100 previously unreported HMW nitrogenous DBPs (N-DBPs), with nearly half of those being halogenated N-DBPs. These N-DBPs were tentatively identified as heterocyclic (e.g., pyrrole and pyridine analogs) and coupling heterocyclic N-DBPs. Through detailed structure analysis and DFT calculations, the key formation steps of heterocyclic N-DBPs (monochloramine-mediated ring-opening reactions of halobenzoquinones) and new bonding mechanisms (C-N, C-O, and C-C bonding) of the coupling heterocyclic N-DBPs were elucidated. The selective formation of these novel N-DBPs was significantly influenced by factors such as contact time, monochloramine dosage, pH, and bromide concentration. Our findings emphasize the occurrence of diverse HMW heterocyclic N-DBPs, which are likely toxicologically significant, underscoring the need for further research to evaluate and mitigate their potential health risks in water disinfection.

A universal model to predict yields of THMs and HAAs based on UV-Visible absorption spectra

Differential absorption spectroscopy (DAS) quantifies changes in the UV-Visible absorbance of dissolved organic matter (DOM) caused by reactions of its chromophores. As a result of its precision and sensitvity, DAS serves as a powerful tool for characterizing the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in generated in DOM chlorination reactions. However, the nonlinear relationship between the intensity of DAS and DBP concentrations as well as the need to develop site-specific fitting parameters limit its practical applications. This study investigated the physico-chemical nature of DAS of chlorinated DOM through experimental measurements and theoretical calculations. Results of this study provide molecular-level evidence that electrophilic substitution reactions involving DOM reactive sites result in the emergence of DAS feaures ascribed to the "fast" chromophores. The ring opening in the cyclic enones-like structures which can be present either in the original DOM or are generated as intermediates in its chlorination, leads to the emergence of DAS features associated with the "slow" chromophores and high yields of DBPs. The kinetic study of chlorination of real waters reveals a strong linear relationship (R2 > 0.91) between ln([DBP]) and the long-wavelength (λ > 325 nm) parameter of the DAS, notably (ln(-DA350)). This relationship varies among different water sources due to the differences in the heterogeneity of Band A3 whose maximum is near 350 nm. Band A3 is one of the Gaussian bands that comprise the overall UV-Visible spectrum of DOM. A new function (f(-DA350)) is proposed in this study to quantify DBP formation. This function, which is determined by the Band A3's area, allows establishing a universal linear relationship between f(-DA350) and ln([THMs]), as well as f(-DA350) and ln([HAAs]), across various water sources. The findings of this study will stimulate further development of spectroscopy-based DBP monitoring technology for monitoring and optimization of water disinfection processes.

Effects of ozone dose on brominated DBPs in subsequent chlor(am)ination: A comprehensive study of aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic DBPs

Ozone‒chlor(am)ine is a commonly used combination of disinfectants in drinking water treatment. Although there are quite a few studies on the formation of some individual DBPs in the ozone‒chlor(am)ine disinfection, an overall picture of the DBP formation in the combined disinfection is largely unavailable. In this study, the effects of ozone dose on the formation and speciation of organic brominated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in subsequent chlorination, chloramination, or chlorination‒chloramination of simulated drinking water were investigated. High-molecular-weight, aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic brominated DBPs were selectively detected and studied using a powerful precursor ion scan method with ultra performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-tqMS). Two groups of unregulated yet relatively toxic DBPs, dihalonitromethanes and dihaloacetaldehydes, were detected by the UPLC/ESI-tqMS for the first time. With increasing ozone dose, the levels of high-molecular-weight (m/z 300-500) and alicyclic and aromatic brominated DBPs generally decreased, the levels of brominated aliphatic acids were slightly affected, and the levels of dihalonitromethanes and dihaloacetaldehydes generally increased in the subsequent disinfection processes. Despite different molecular compositions of the detected DBPs, increasing ozone dose generally shifted the formation of DBPs from chlorinated ones to brominated analogues in the subsequent disinfection processes. This study provided a comprehensive analysis of the impact of ozone dose on the DBP formation and speciation in subsequent chlor(am)ine disinfection.

Iron particles lower than 10 μm in drinking water dominate particle catalysis effect on disinfection byproduct formation

Iron particles could catalyze disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), but the catalytic effects of iron particles considering size effects have not been focused. Here, we first found that fine particles (lower than 10 μm) dominated the particle catalysis effect of the iron particles on the formation of DBPs containing multiple Cl atoms (DBP-3Cl), especially those with aromatic structure and containing multiple N atoms (DBP-3N). The loose deposit particles were filtered through 50 μm (F50), 10 μm (F10) and 1 μm (F10) membranes, and their turbidity values were 231.6, 53.4 and 1.1 NTU, respectively. In mass ratio, F50, F10 and F1 accounted for 84 %, 15 % and 1 % of unfiltered samples. Notably, the lower mass F10 generated more DBP-3Cl and DBP-3N than F50. Metal crystals and natural organic matters showed little difference among different sizes. The high catalytic activity of particles in F10 due to size effect was proved to be the essential mechanism. F1 contained few particles to affect DBP formation. In toxicity evaluation, the toxicity of F10 was even higher than F50. Therefore, fine particles with sizes lower than 10 μm may play a dominate role in the catalytic effect on DBP transformation in DWDS.

Formation characteristics and acute toxicity assessment of THMs and HAcAms from DOM and its different fractions in source water during chlorination and chloramination

The formation characteristics of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetamides (HAcAms) from dissolved organic matter and its fractions were investigated during chlorine-based disinfection processes. The relationships between water quality parameters, fluorescence parameters, and the formation levels of THMs and HAcAms were analyzed. The fractions contributing most to the acute toxicity were identified. The trichloromethane (TCM) generation level (72 h) generally followed the order of Cl₂ > NH₂Cl > NHCl₂ process. The NHCl₂ process was superior to the NH₂Cl process in controlling TCM formation. Hydrophobic acidic substance (HOA), hydrophobic neutral substance (HON), and hydrophilic substance (HIS) were identified as primary precursors of 2,2-dichloroacetamide and trichloroacetamide during chlorination and chloramination. The formation of TCM mainly resulted from HOA, HON and HIS fractions relatively uniformly, while HOA and HIS fractions contributed more to the formation of bromodichloromethane and dibromomonochloromethane. UV₂₅₄ could be used as an alternative indicator for the amount of ΣTHMs formed during chlorination and chloramination processes. Dissolved organic nitrogen was a potential precursor of 2,2-dichloroacetamide during chlorination process. The fractions with the highest potential acute toxicity after the chlorination were water-dependent.

Model for halo-acetic acids formation in bulk water of water supply systems

With increased understanding of the differences in toxicity between species of haloacetic acids (HAAs) and the possibility of more stringent regulations, the ability to predict individual HAA species formation is important. Nine different haloacetic acids are regulated and their total concentration is referred to as HAA9. A mathematical model to predict concentrations of HAA species was proposed and tested using independent data sets. The amount of HAA9 formed per unit amount of chlorine consumed (μg-HAA9/mg-consumed chlorine) remained constant throughout the reaction times in each sample. Similarly, the fraction of a given HAA species largely remained constant during most of the reaction time. Thus, each HAA species was assumed to have its own yield with respect to consumed chlorine in a given water sample. The parallel second-order (2R) model describing chlorine decay kinetics was then extended to predict HAA species formation kinetics. The combined chlorine and HAA species model closely predicts all tested HAA species and its sum with standard error ≤ 5 μg/L. Within the tested waters having Cl₂/N mass ratio ≥ 10.7 (g-Cl₂/g-N), ammonia did not impact the mass yield. The mass yield of each HAA species can be calculated from three measurements (e.g. at 0, 4 and 24 h) of HAA species and chlorine. Once the yield is known, HAA species concentrations could be predicted for up to 120 h with only chlorine measurements. The model extends the previous work of predicting the trihalomethane species formation kinetics to HAA species formation kinetics. Further research is needed to understand how the yield varies with source water quality, treatment and in distribution systems.

Formation of Larger Molecular Weight Disinfection Byproducts from Acetaminophen in Chlorine Disinfection

Acetaminophen is widely used to treat mild to moderate pain and to reduce fever. Under the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, this over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer has been drastically consumed, which makes it even more abundant than ever in municipal wastewater and drinking water sources. Chlorine is the most widely used oxidant in drinking water disinfection, and chlorination generally causes the degradation of organic compounds, including acetaminophen. In this study, a new reaction pathway in the chlorination of acetaminophen, i.e., oxidative coupling reactions via acetaminophen radicals, was investigated both experimentally and computationally. Using an ultraperformance liquid chromatograph coupled to an electrospray ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, we detected over 20 polymeric products in chlorinated acetaminophen samples, some of which have structures similar to the legacy pollutants "polychlorinated biphenyls". Both C-C and C-O bonding products were found, and the corresponding bonding processes and kinetics were revealed by quantum chemical calculations. Based on the product confirmation and intrinsic reaction coordinate computations, a pathway for the formation of the polymeric products in the chlorination of acetaminophen was proposed. This study suggests that chlorination may cause not only degradation but also upgradation of a phenolic compound or contaminant.

Evaluation of Preformed Monochloramine Reactivity with Processed Natural Organic Matter and Scaling Methodology Development for Concentrated Waters

To evaluate natural organic matter (NOM) processing impacts on preformed monochloramine (PM) reactivity and as a first step in creating concentrated disinfection byproduct (DBP) mixtures from PM, a rational methodology was developed to proportionally scale PM NOM-related demand in unconcentrated source waters to waters with concentrated NOM. Multiple NOM preparations were evaluated, including a liquid concentrate and reconstituted lyophilized solid material. Published kinetic models were evaluated and used to develop a focused reaction scheme (FRS) that was relatively simple to implement and focused on monochloramine loss, including considerations for inorganic chloramine stability (i.e., autodecomposition) and bromide and iodide impacts. The FRS included critical reaction pathways and accurately simulated (without modification) monochloramine experimental data with and without bromide and iodide present over a range of PM-dosed NOM-free waters. For NOM-containing waters, addition of two NOM reactions in the FRS allowed (i) apportioning monochloramine loss to either inorganic or NOM-related reactions and (ii) selecting experiment conditions to provide an equivalent monochloramine NOM-related demand in unconcentrated and concentrated waters. The methodology provides a framework for future experimentation to evaluate DBP scaling and their speciation in concentrated water matrices when providing an equivalent NOM-related monochloramine demand in unconcentrated and concentrated matrices.

Effect of ammonia on acute toxicity and disinfection byproducts formation during chlorination of secondary wastewater effluents

Ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) significantly affects the occurrence of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and residual chlorine in chlorinated wastewater, thereby affecting the acute toxicity to aquatic organisms. In this paper, the formation of thirty-five halogenated DBPs and the changes in acute toxicity of luminescent bacteria and zebrafish embryos were evaluated after chlorination of seven secondary wastewater effluents with different NH₃-N concentrations. Results showed that NH₃-N significantly reduced the formation of most DBPs by 82-100%. The acute toxicity was enhanced after chlorination and increased linearly with increasing NH₃-N concentration for luminescent bacteria (r = 0.986, p < 0.05) and zebrafish embryos (r = 0.972, p < 0.05) due to the coexistence of DBPs and monochloramine. According to the toxicity classification system of wastewater, the fitting results indicated that the toxicity level was acceptable for chlorinated wastewater with NH₃-N concentration below 1.00 mg-N/L. DBPs might be the main toxicant to luminescent bacteria in the wastewater with low NH₃-N concentrations (0.06-0.31 mg-N/L), which accounted for 68-97% of the toxicity contribution. By contrast, monochloramine contributed over 80% to the toxicity of luminescent bacteria and zebrafish embryos in the wastewater with high NH₃-N concentrations (2.66-7.17 mg-N/L). Compared to chlorination, chlorine dioxide and ultraviolet disinfection unaffected by NH₃-N could reduce acute toxicity by nearly 100%, primarily due to the lack of residual disinfectant. In view of the high toxicity caused by chlorination, chlorination-dechlorination or chlorine dioxide and UV disinfection are highly recommended for the treatment of wastewater with high NH₃-N concentration.

Assessment of the di- and tri-chlorinated haloacetic acids during broiler prechilling

Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) has been widely used at 100 ppm concentration during poultry slaughter to reduce carcass microorganism loads. However, its use in poultry processing is restricted owing to the potential risks of disinfection by-products (DBPs) that can be produced by the reaction of NaClO with poultry meat components. This study assessed whether dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA), as primary DBP representatives, were produced when NaClO was used as a disinfectant in various methods during broiler prechilling. Headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the quantitative determination of DCAA and TCAA in 180 prechilling water samples and 30 broiler meat samples, obtained from large standard slaughterhouses equipped with an online monitoring system to control the NaClO concentration between 50 and 100 ppm, showed that neither DCAA nor TCAA were detected. In simulation assays, haloacetic acids (HAAs) were not detected when the concentration of the NaClO solution was less than 200 ppm with low frequency addition; however, more than 0.1 mg/L of DCAA and TCAA were detected on applying 200, 300, 400, 500, and 1000 ppm NaClO at high frequency. These findings indicated that adding high concentrations of NaClO and frequently adding low levels pose a potential risk of DBP formation. This investigation provides a basis for the establishment of food risk and the scientific use of NaClO in poultry processing, and contributes to the evaluation of DBPs in poultry slaughter. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study confirmed the occurrences of DCAA and TCAA during broiler chilling processing, indicating that formation of HAAs in simulation systems was correlated with NaClO levels and validated the absence of DCAA and TCAA with less than 200 ppm, providing a basic study for food safety standards and regulations on the disinfectants used in food processing.

Interpretation of the formation of unstable halogen-containing disinfection by-products based on the differential absorbance spectroscopy approach

Concentrations of several toxic disinfection by-products (DBP), notably haloacetonitriles (e.g., trichloroacetonitrile, TCAN) and haloketones (e.g., di- and trichloropropanone, DCPN and TCPN, respectively) are affected by chlorination conditions and the inherent instability of these DBPs. In this study, effects of temperature, chlorine dose and reaction time on the formation of TCAN, DCPN and TCPN were interpreted using the approach of differential absorbance spectroscopy. Experimental data obtained for a wide range of water quality conditions demonstrate that in some cases the concentrations of some of the unstable DBPs increased rather than decreased at low temperatures and realistically long contact times. Despite the presence of pronounced changes of the kinetics of generation and degradation of these DBPs at varying temperatures and chlorine doses, their concentrations were strongly correlated with the concurrent changes of spectroscopic properties of DOM quantified via differential absorbance measurements at 272 nm (ΔA₂₇₂). The maximum values of TCAN, DCPN and TCPN concentrations observed for the chlorination of eight different surface waters occur at the relative decreases of absorbance at 272 nm (defined as RΔA₂₇₂) values of ca. 0.32 (±0.03), 0.24 (±0.05), and 0.42 (±0.03), respectively. The activation energies of degradation reactions of unstable DBPs were examined and the results indicate that TCAN and TCPN are caused by their hydrolysis with OH^- while the degradation of DCPN is mainly caused by halogenation reaction with HOCl. These results in this study may be important for controlling the formation of unstable DBPs and further optimization of drinking water treatment.

Low water treatability efficiency of wildfire-induced dissolved organic matter and disinfection by-product precursors

Wildfire could alter both the quantity and composition of terrestrial organic matter exported into source water, and water treatability of fire-impacted dissolved organic matter (DOM) could be different from its unburned counterpart. Currently, there is no standard protocol to treat wildfire-impacted source water. To identify the best treatment practices in handling post-fire runoffs, we conducted a systematic controlled study using leachates of unburned white fir (Abies concolor) and Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and black and white ashes (collected immediately and one year after the 2013 Rim Fire, California) to evaluate coagulation and oxidation strategies for controlling disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formation. Results showed that the efficiency (%) of alum coagulation in removing dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen followed the order of litter > ash immediately after the fire > ash one year after the fire. Alum coagulation was less effectiveness in removing DOM and DBP precursors in ash leachates, compared to litter leachates. This may be attributed to the loss of side chains and the decrease of DOM molecular weight during the wildfire, thus inducing lower removal efficiency of the DOM and DBP precursors during the alum coagulation. Considering use of brominated flame retardants by firefighters, the addition of bromide (Br^-) (100 μg/L) greatly increased the formation of haloacetonitriles by chlorine, and this increase was relatively lower in ash leachates. The influence of reaction time and pH on DOM reactivity was similar among the leachates of litter and ash samples. Our results show that alum coagulation followed by chloramination at alkaline pH is an effective strategy for reducing post-fire DBP formation in drinking water.