Habibullah Uzun, post-doctoral fellow in Tanju Karanfil’s research group, recently had an article featured in the journal American Water Works Association (AWWA). This article was the only one in the June 2017 issue selected to be printed in full text, with the other articles being made available online.
The comprehensive study, The Removal of N-Nitrosodimethylamine Formation Potential in Drinking Water Treatment Plants, examined the potential for the disinfection byproduct, N-Nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, to be formed in several drinking water treatment plants. NDMA can be formed when anthropogenic chemicals found in the source water react with the disinfectant chloramine. Chloramination is a disinfection process that an increasing number of water treatment plants are using, but raises concerns about the safety of its unintentional byproduct, NDMA. The study evaluates water treatment plants’ abilities to remove the precursors for NDMA development as well as how much NDMA is being produced through the disinfection process. NDMA is a probable carcinogen that people are most likely to be exposed to through ingesting chloriminated water or food, making this research significant for future regulation development.
