Results of a short-term toxicity study for three organic chemicals found in Niagara River drinking water.

Abstract

During the past decade concern has been raised over the quality of drinking water in the communities that draw their supply directly from the Niagara River, which is known to be contaminated with a number of chemical pollutants. At the present, attention is focused on trace organic chemicals in the Niagara River and in Lake Ontario. These substances originate directly from municipal and industrial discharges and indirectly from major waste disposal sites along the river. Dibromomethane, hexanal and tetrahydrofuran among other chemicals were detected in treated drinking water at levels ranging from 0.2-0.8 ..mu..g/L in the Niagara River area. There are no toxicity data available on these chemicals when they are administered to laboratory animals in drinking water. Since the mode of administration may affect the pharmacokinetic behavior and hence the toxic effects of these compounds, it was considered that further animal studies were needed for the regulatory agencies to assess the potential adverse effects in humans associated with the ingestion of the organic chemicals via drinking water. To this end short-term toxicity studies (4 weeks) on dibromomethane, hexanal, and tetrahydrofuran in the rat were carried out.