About a third of U.S. residents have been receiving tap water containing a previously unidentified chemical byproduct, a new study has found.
But the mysterious chemical has left scientists concerned. So much so, that they’re investigating whether it could be toxic. Since then, it’s been identified.
The newly identified substance is called “chloronitramide anion,” which is produced when water is treated with chloramine, a chemical formed by mixing chlorine and ammonia. Chloramine is mostly used to kill viruses and bacteria in municipal water treatment systems.
According to researchers, the byproduct has been around and was discovered 40 years ago but was only identified now because analysis techniques have been improved, which finally allowed scientists to figure out the chemical’s structure.
The authors of the new study came across their results after finding out how to formulate high concentrations of the chemical for laboratory testing, per Julian Fairey, lead author and an associate professor at the University of Arkansas.
I can virtually guarantee it's toxic in high enough concentrations; even water and oxygen are. The question is whether it really has substantial toxicity at the concentrations found in tap water treated with chloramines and whether that outweighs the benefits of killing bacteria and viruses. The data, the fact that no illness have been traced to water treated with chloramines, suggest it does not.
We don't have to worry about the chloronitramide anion in our water, since our water is treated with ordinary (highly toxic in high concentrations) chlorine.
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