Tracing Nitrogenous Disinfection Byproducts after Medium Pressure UV Water Treatment by Stable Isotope Labeling and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Advanced oxidation processes are important barriers for organic micropollutants (e.g., pharmaceuticals, pesticides) in (drinking) water treatment. Studies indicate that medium pressure (MP) UV/H₂O₂ treatment leads to a positive response in Ames mutagenicity tests, which is then removed after granulated activated carbon (GAC) filtration. The formed potentially mutagenic substances were hitherto not identified and may result from the reaction of photolysis products of nitrate with (photolysis products of) natural organic material (NOM). In this study we present an innovative approach to trace the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) of MP UV water treatment, based on stable isotope labeled nitrate combined with high resolution mass spectrometry. It was shown that after MP UV treatment of artificial water containing NOM and nitrate, multiple nitrogen containing substances were formed. In total 84 N-DBPs were detected at individual concentrations between 1 to 135 ng/L bentazon-d₆ equivalents, with a summed concentration of 1.2 μg/L bentazon-d₆ equivalents. The chemical structures of three byproducts were confirmed. Screening for the 84 N-DBPs in water samples from a full-scale drinking water treatment plant based on MP UV/H₂O₂ treatment showed that 22 of the N-DBPs found in artificial water were also detected in real water samples.