A new chemical compound has been discovered in U.S. water, according to a study published in Science.
The compound, chloronitramide anion, is a decomposition product of inorganic chloramines. The anion was found in “40 drinking water samples from 10 US drinking water systems using chloramines, but not from ultrapure water or drinking water treated without chlorine-based disinfectants,” the study says.
The study adds that the substance is a “potential human health concern and is therefore an immediate candidate for quantitation in source waters, finished drinking waters, and wastewater effluents.”
Toxicity of the compound is not yet known.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says chloramines are “most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine to treat drinking water.” The agency adds that “more than one in five Americans uses drinking water treated with chloramines.”
In a press statement for the research, co-author Julian Fairey said chloronitramide anion is a “very stable chemical with a low molecular weight.”
“It’s a very difficult chemical to find. The hardest part was identifying it and proving it was the structure we were saying it was,” Fairey said.
He explained in a previous interview, “It’s well recognized that when we disinfect drinking water, there is some toxicity that’s created. Chronic toxicity, really. A certain number of people may get cancer from drinking water over several decades. But we haven’t identified what chemicals are driving that toxicity. A major goal of our work is to identify these chemicals and the reaction pathways through which they form.”
A similar study published last month detailed that millions of Americans are exposed to contaminants through their tap water.
PFAS, sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals,” may be present in up to 95 million Americans’ tap water.
Scientists collected PFAS samples from three well networks to assess their occurrence in groundwater. Out of the 24 PFAS analyzed, at least one was detected in 37% of the samples.
Forty-two percent of public water supplies assessed contained PFAS. Seventeen percent of the domestic wells assessed contained the “forever chemicals.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that he will implement changes for U.S. water systems, including removing fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he wrote earlier this month.
