National Organics Reconnaissance Survey for Halogenated Organics

Symons, James M.; Bellar, Thomas A.; Carswell, J; DeMarco, Jack; Kropp, Kenneth L.; Robeck, Gordon G.; Seeger, Dennis R.; Slocum, Clois J.; Smith, Bradford; Stevens, Alan A.

doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.1975.tb02318.x

Cited by 401 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The chlorine-based disinfection compounds that are commonly used in water supply systems often combine with residual organic material to form measurable trihalomethane concentrations (THMs, i.e., chloroform, bromodichloromethane, chlorodibromomethane, and bromoform) in finished water supplies (6,7). This is a concern because chloroform is a known animal carcinogen (8), and recent studies have linked human bladder and rectal cancers to the routine use of chlorinated water supplies (9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Alveolar breath sampling and analysis to assess trihalomethane exposures during competitive swimming training.

Lindstrom

Pleil

Berkoff

1997

Environ Health Perspect

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Al-eolar breath samplingwas used to asess trihalometne (THM) pg/l. The mean blood levels in the agonistic swimmers were significantly higher than those in the nonagonistic swimmers and the nonswimming observers. Moreover, blood chloroform levels were significantly correlated with water and air concentrations, the number of swimmers in the pool, and the time an individual swimmer spent in the pool. The overall intensity of the physical activity was also correlated with blood chloroform levels. In a follow-up study, Aggazzotti et al. (13) collected alveolar breath samples from swimmers after a 90 min swim session. They found median alveolar breath chloroform at 83 pg/m3 (range 13.9-311 pg/m3), and they determined that postswim chloroform in breath was strongly influenced by environmental air chloroform levels, age, intensity of sporting activity, and the type of swimming.Weisel and Shepard (14) also used exhaled breath measurements to examine chloroform exposures associated with recreational swimming. They found that after a routinized 30-min exposure period, breath elimination of chloroform was rapid, but it could not be fitted to the conventional multicompartment exponential decay models that have been previously used to describe

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Alveolar breath sampling and analysis to assess trihalomethane exposures during competitive swimming training.

Lindstrom

Pleil

Berkoff

1997

Environ Health Perspect

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“…Chloroform is an environmental carcinogen found in drinking water (3,4). Estimation of the human health hazard as a consequence of this exposure to chloroform requires extrapolation of the animal carcinogenicity data to humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The chlorination of drinking water can represent a major exposure to humans of trihalomethanes including bromoform and chloroform (1)(2)(3). Chloroform induced hepatocellular carcinomas and kidney epithelial tumors in mice and rats, respectively (4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trihalomethanes as Initiators and Promoters of Carcinogenesis

Pereira¹,

Lin²,

Lippitt³

et al. 1982

Environmental Health Perspectives

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Chloroform and other trihalomethanes are contaminants of drinking water that have been demonstrated to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals. Determination of the mechanism of carcinogenicity of chloroform is required so that the animal data can be extrapolated to estimate the human health hazard. The extent of the binding of chloroform to rat liver and kidney DNA was approximately 0.1% the level of binding found for dimethylnitrosamine. Neither chloroform nor bromoform, in contrast to diethylnitrosamine-initiated GGTase-positive foci in either intact or partial hepatectomized rats, promoted with phenobarbital. Tumor-promoting activity of chloroform was indicated by the slight significant increase, compared to untreated controls, in the incidence of GGTase-positive foci in rats initiated with diethylnitrosamine (DENA) followed by the administration of chloroform twice weekly for a total of 15 doses. In this study, rats administered only the DENA or the chloroform did not contain an increased incidence of GGTase-positive foci compared to untreated controls. However, the incidence of foci in the group that received DENA followed by chloroform was not statistically different from that in either the group that received only the DENA or only the chloroform. In conclusion, we were unable to demonstrate tumor-initiating activity for chloroform, and the tumor-promoting activity of chloroform indicated by our results requires further confirmation.

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“…The correlation coefficient was 0.62 and the square of this value is 0.39, which means that 39o of the variation in the concentration of halomethanes is explained on the basis of the organic carbon content. A similar relationship has been developed by Symons et al (64). The data in this treatment were divided into cells with a 0.5 ppm nonvolatile total organic carbon (NVTOC) concentration range in each cell.…”

Section: Water Supply Disinfectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental health sciences center task force review on halogenated organics in drinking water

Deinzer¹,

Schaumburg²,

Klein³

1978

Environ Health Perspect

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The disinfection of drinking water by chlorination has in recent years come under closer scrutiny because of the potential hazards associated with the production of stable chlorinated organic chemicals. Organic chemical contaminants are common to all water supplies and it is now well-established that chlorinated by-products are obtained under conditions of disinfection, or during tertiary treatment of sewage whose products can ultimately find their way into drinking water supplies. Naturally occurring humic substances which are invariably present in drinking waters are probably the source of chloroform and other halogenated methanes, and chloroform has shown up in every water supply investigated thus far. The Environmental Protection Agency is charged with the responsibility of assessing the public health effects resulting from the consumption of contaminated drinking water. It has specifically undertaken the task of determining whether organic contaminants or their chlorinated derivatives have a special impact, and if so, what alternatives there are to protect the consumer against bacterial and viral diseases that are transmitted through infected drinking waters. The impetus to look at these chemicals is not entirely without some prima facie evidence of potential trouble. Epidemiological studies suggested a higher incidence of cancer along the lower Mississippi River where the contamination from organic chemicals is particularly high. The conclusions from these studies have, to be sure, not gone unchallenged. The task of assessing the effects of chemicals in the drinking water is a difficult one. It includes many variables, including differences in water supplies and the temporal relationship between contamination and consumption of the finished product. It must also take into account the relative importance of the effects from these chemicals in comparison to those from occupational exposure, ingestion of contaminated foods, inhalation of polluted air, and many others. The susceptibility of different age, genetic, and ethnic groups within the population must also be carefully considered. The present review discusses: the reasons for disinfection; the general occurrence of chlorinated organics in drinking water; the chemistry in the synthesis of chlorinated organics under aqueous conditions; and alternatives to chlorine for disinfection.

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National Organics Reconnaissance Survey for Halogenated Organics

Abstract: A contribution submitted to the JOURNAL by James M. Symons (Active Member,

Cited by 401 publications

References 3 publications

Alveolar breath sampling and analysis to assess trihalomethane exposures during competitive swimming training.

Alveolar breath sampling and analysis to assess trihalomethane exposures during competitive swimming training.

Trihalomethanes as Initiators and Promoters of Carcinogenesis

Environmental health sciences center task force review on halogenated organics in drinking water

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