Chemical Risks of Drinking Water: Micropollutants and Disinfection Byproducts

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 941

Special Issue Editors

College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China
Interests: drinking water; micropollutants; disinfection; disinfection byproducts; toxicity; metabolomics; transcriptomics; control technology
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Guest Editor
College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China
Interests: emerging contaminant; water; sediment; wild animal; bioaccumulation; toxicity; metabolism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Micropollutants are pollutants with low concentration levels and various species, including aliphatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, organic pesticides, and metal–organic compounds, etc. Disinfection byproducts are substances produced by the reaction of disinfectants with organic matter, including trihalomethanes, halogenated acetic acids, halogenated acetonitriles, etc. Currently, most disinfection byproducts remain unknown. However, micropollutants and disinfection byproducts in drinking water cannot be completely removed during water treatment and damage human health after ingestion, which has aroused widespread concern. This Special Issue will focus on highlighting timely research studies addressing micropollutants and disinfection byproducts in drinking water, as well as their exposure levels and risks in humans. Authors are invited to submit original research papers, reviews, and short communications.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Identification and analysis of new micropollutants and disinfection byproducts;
  2. Traceability of micropollutants and identification of disinfection byproduct precursors;
  3. Transformation of micropollutants and disinfection byproducts during water treatment;
  4. Control and removal technologies of micropollutants and disinfection byproducts;
  5. Exposure levels and risks of micropollutants and disinfection byproducts in humans;
  6. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity caused by micropollutants and disinfection byproducts.

Dr. Jun Hu
Dr. Hangbiao Jin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • drinking water
  • micropollutants
  • disinfection byproducts
  • toxicity
  • metabolomics
  • transcriptomics
  • control technology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 2129 KiB  
Article
Adsorption Behavior and Mechanisms of Trihalomethanes onto Virgin and Weathered Polyvinyl Chloride Microplastics
by Yi Li, Paragi Neema and Susan Andrews
Toxics 2024, 12(7), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12070450 - 22 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 707
Abstract
Microplastics that adsorb various toxic contaminants in water may be transported into cells and organs, possibly posing toxicological risks in the aquatic environment. Disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which are ubiquitous in chlorinated drinking water and wastewater, may have some potential to sorb onto microplastics [...] Read more.
Microplastics that adsorb various toxic contaminants in water may be transported into cells and organs, possibly posing toxicological risks in the aquatic environment. Disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which are ubiquitous in chlorinated drinking water and wastewater, may have some potential to sorb onto microplastics (MPs) through hydrophobic or electrostatic interactions. However, DBP adsorption on microplastics has not yet been closely examined. This work investigated the adsorption behavior of trihalomethanes (THMs)—a regulated and ubiquitous DBP class in chlorinated water—onto virgin and weathered polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics, the most widely used plastic material in drinking water distribution and sewer systems. A comparative analysis of kinetic and isotherm test results indicated that the adsorption mechanisms mainly involved hydrophobic interactions from a combination of weak and strong physisorption behavior and possibly chemisorption. The adsorption coefficients from all the models examined suggested that the adsorption of THMs, and perhaps chemically similar DBPs, onto virgin PVC microplastics can be 10–20 µg g−1. However, the weathered PVC microplastics contained more polar functional groups, which led to a decreased hydrophobicity and reduced THM adsorption capacity by approximately 10%. These findings offer novel insights into the possible adsorption characteristics of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) onto microplastics and will assist in targeting more toxic DBPs for future investigations. Full article
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