Environmental Protection Agency priority water pollutants

Environmental Protection Agency (1997). Water quality standards Establishment of numeric criteria for priority toxic pollutants for the state of California Proposed rule, 40 CFR, Part 131. Fed. Reg. 62, 42159-42208. 

M. A. CaUahan and co-workers, Water-Related Environmental Fate of 129 Priority Pollutants, Vol. 1, EPA-440/4-79/029a, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., 1980, pp. 17-1—17-11. 

EPA. 1979. Water-related environmental fate of 129 priority pollutants. Vol. I Introduction and technical background, metals and inorganics, pesticides and PCB s. Washington, DC U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water Planning and Standards. EPA-440/4-79-029a, 27.1-27.16. 

Fowler, C. F. Freed, J. R. Jennings, P. Durfee, R. L. Whitmore, F. C. Maestri, B. Mabey, W. R. Holt, B. R. Gould, C. "Water Related Fate of 129 Priority Pollutants, Volume I" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water Planning and Standards Washington, DC, 1979 EPA... 

EPA. 1982. Aquatic fate process data for organic priority pollutants. Washington, DC Monitoring and Data Support Division, Office of Water Regulations and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Report No. 440/4-81-014. 

Trihalomethanes (THMs) are priority pollutants listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They are recalcitrant in nature, thus their destruction is difficult. The most commonly encountered THMs in drinking water threatening human health are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform. Tang and Tassos (1997) studied the oxidation kinetics and mechanisms of these four THMs. 

The photochemistry of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and poly-chlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in water and on solids was reviewed in this series in 1999 [1]. The large interest in this field was due to the fact that many PAHs and mixtures of PCBs are on the United States Environmental Protection Agency s fist of priority pollutants (see [1] for the fist of compounds). Photochemists wanted to know what the fate of these materials in the environment is when exposed to sunlight and if one could use photochemistry to remediate contaminated sites. This interest has continued and will be the focus of the present review. The review covers the recent literature through the middle of 2003. 

The complexity of water chemistry and the diversity of its constituents results in a system of water quahty criteria that is based on the relationship between pollutant concentrations and environmental and human health effects. The compilation of the Environmental Protection Agency currently covers 157 priority pollutants (EPA, 1999). It lists estimations of maximum and continuous concentrations of pollutants in surface water according to the latest scientific information. Accordingly, the analytical-chemical requirements of water analyses and the correct assessments of their results are enormous (cf Kolle, 2001). 

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