Development of new toxicity identification evaluation by assessing toxicity reduction on adsorption and ion-exchange treatments.

A new toxicity identification evaluation method for water exhibiting toxicity has been suggested by evaluating toxicity reduction resulting from adsorption and ion-exchange treatments. Adsorption using various adsorbents such as activated carbon, chitosan and zeolite, and ion-exchange using cationic and anionic ion-exchange resins were performed. In addition, toxicity was evaluated by a cell survival test using human liver cancer origin cells (HepG2), and the dose response data was applied to treatment characteristics. The amount of toxicity adsorbed by the various adsorbents was defined based on adsorption isotherm. Parameters of the toxicity adsorption isotherm provided information that allowed us to identify the toxicity-controlling chemicals in environmental water containing various chemicals. The method is promising for water quality management because it can be used to identify toxicity-controlling chemicals among various environmental pollutants.