Global assessment of chemical quality of drinking water: The case of trihalomethanes.

Background: Trihalomethanes (THM), a major class of disinfection by-products, are widespread and are associated with adverse health effects. We conducted a global evaluation of current THM regulations and concentrations in drinking water.

Methods: We included 120 countries (∼7000 million inhabitants in 2016), representing 94% of the world population.

The influence of precursors and treatment process on the formation of Iodo-THMs in Canadian drinking water.

The National Survey of Disinfection By-Products and Selected Emerging Contaminants investigated the formation of various disinfection by-products and contaminants in 65 water treatment systems (WTSs) across Canada. Results for six iodo-trihalomethanes (iodo-THMs) are reported in this paper. The participating water treatment systems included large, medium and small systems using water sources and treatment processes which were representative of Canadian drinking water.

Development and application of needle trap devices.

Needle trap devices (NTDs), like solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers, represent a new approach to one-step, solvent-free sample preparation and injection. New NTDs, packed with divinylbenzene (DVB) or Carboxen 1000 particles, are prepared, characterized, and used for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzne, and xylene (BTEX) sampling in our laboratory. This paper describes optimization parameters, performance evaluation, and application of NTDs for the analysis of a BTEX mixture from air.