AWWA WQTC65990

The Southern Nevada Water Authority laboratory has developed a method to observe real-time oxidation of emerging contaminants and subsequent byproduct formation using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Oxidation (e.g. chlorination, chloramination, etc.) experiments carried out in a glass vessel were directly analyzed by infusing the solution into the mass spectrometer using an LC pump. This setup allowed continuous monitoring of both the degradation of the parent compound and formation of its associated byproducts. Experiments involving the real-time reaction of triclosan with chlorine were conducted. Triclosan was observed to decay in the presence of chlorine and several triclosan byproducts were identified and observed to form and decay over the course of the experiment. Data obtained with this method can be used in many ways including the determination of the identities of disinfection byproducts and the calculation of reaction kinetics. Includes 7 references, table, figures.