Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Emerging drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and other contaminants are a challenging public health issue because drinking water is a pervasive public exposure. The regulated DBPs offer no plausible toxicological explanation for increased risks of cancer and adverse health effects that are suggested by epidemiology studies. One possible explanation is that many other unidentified DBPs may play more important roles in the health effects observed, because an estimated majority (60 to 70%) of DBPs remains unknown. Certain DBPs, such as N-dimethyl nitrosamine, are accepted animal carcinogens and some halogenated DBPs may cause adverse reproductive outcomes. To address the technology challenges and knowledge gaps inmonitoring of water quality and human health effects, we propose to develop a platform integrating innovative analytical and toxicity testing tools for effective and reliable monitoring of water quality. The outcome of this strategic research project provides innovative tools and new knowledge enabling the optimization of water treatment to achieve the best quality of drinking water (effective disinfection of pathogens while minimizing DBP risk) to maximize the effectiveness of drinking water guidelines for this pervasive public exposure.