Collaborative Research: Impacts of Energy Extraction and Coal-Fired Power Plants on Disinfection By-Product Formation in Water

1438625 Richardson，Susan D.1438326 VanBriesen，Jeane合作研究：能源开采和燃煤发电厂对水中消毒副产品形成的影响越来越多的能源开采活动，包括页岩气开采和常规石油和天然气开采，正导致溴(和潜在的碘)向美国地表水的高排放。燃煤发电厂正在安装的新污染控制措施也导致了溴离子的高排放。这些活动对人类和生态健康提出了新的问题，因为当这些高溴化物/碘的水被氯化(水处理中使用的一种消毒过程)时，它们可能导致形成剧毒的消毒副产品，其中一些可能对人类健康产生不利影响。拟议的跨学科研究将全面表征和量化受能源开采和燃煤发电厂排放影响的源水中形成的溴化和碘化消毒副产品，确定潜在的人类和生态健康风险，并利用建模来建立和量化受影响的源水与人类暴露之间的联系，并估计将把人类风险降至最低的溴化物和碘化物的最大负载量。虽然已知高水平的溴化物和碘化物会导致氯化饮用水中溴化和碘化的二氯苯酚的形成，但即使是氯与溴化物、碘化物和天然有机物(NOM)反应形成的“常规”消毒副产物也没有得到充分的表征，因此50%的卤化消毒副产物仍然未知。考虑到在通常未知的能源开采/利用过程中使用更多化学品的可能性(特别是水力压裂)，这种情况甚至更加复杂。消毒副产物不再只是来自天然有机物和生活废水中的低水平污染物，但现在有更多的前体来自这些新的能源提取/利用排放，这些前体基本上没有特征。这已经导致人类和水生生物暴露在明显不同的环境中。了解这些溴化和碘化消毒副产品的形成及其对人类和生态的潜在危险，最终可以为关于控制溴化物和碘化物排放以及什么水平被认为是安全的决定提供依据。

1438625Richardson, Susan D.1438326VanBriesen, JeanneCollaborative Research: Impacts of Energy Extraction and Coal-Fired Power Plants on Disinfection By-product Formation in WaterIncreased energy extraction activities, including shale gas extraction and conventional oil and gas extraction, are resulting in high releases of bromide (and potentially iodide) to U.S. surface waters. New pollution controls being installed at coal-fired power plants are also resulting in high releases of bromide ion. These activities are presenting new issues for human and ecological health because when these high-bromide/iodide waters are chlorinated (a disinfection processes used in water treatment), they can result in the formation of highly toxic disinfection by-products, several of which may have adverse human health effects. The proposed interdisciplinary research would comprehensively characterize and quantify brominated and iodinated disinfection by-products formed in source waters impacted by energy extraction and coal-fired power plant releases, determine potential human and ecological health risks, and use modeling to establish and quantify the linkage between impacted source waters and human exposures, and estimate maximum loadings of bromide and iodide that will minimize human risks. While it is known that high levels of bromide and iodide can contribute to the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs in chlorinated drinking water, even "conventional" disinfection by-products formed by reaction of chlorine with bromide, iodide, and natural organic matter (NOM) are not fully characterized, such that 50 % of the halogenated disinfection by-products remains unknown. This situation is even more complex when considering the possibility of additional chemicals used in energy extraction/utilization processes that are often unknown (particularly for hydraulic fracturing). No longer are the disinfection by-product precursors only from natural organic matter, and low levels of contaminants in domestic wastewater, but there are now additional precursors from these new energy extraction/utilization releases, which are largely uncharacterized. This is already resulting in significantly different exposures to both humans and aquatic organisms. Understanding the formation of these brominated and iodinated disinfection by-products and their potential human and ecological risks could ultimately inform decisions regarding control of bromide and iodide releases and what levels would be deemed safe.