title: Causal relationships among biological toxicity, geochemical conditions and derived DBPs in groundwater.
abstract: Groundwater is indispensable water resource in coastal areas of Taiwan and is typically used following simple disinfection. Disinfection by-products (DBP), which are hazardous materials that are biologically toxic, are commonly produced. To elucidate the effect of environmental factors on the formulation of DBPs and arsenic species, and the effect of these factors on the bio-toxicity, data from a one-year monitoring program that was performed in a coastal area of central Taiwan were analyzed using the multivariate statistical method of redundancy analysis (RDA). The results reveal that the dominant DBP for trihalomethanes (THMs) was CHCl3 and for haloacetic acids (HAAs) was CHClBr2COOH (BDCAA). The formation of these compounds was most affected by the concentrations of humic substances and Br(-). As(5+) ions are abundant in the area close to the seashore and are the main source of biological toxicity. Cl(-), Br(-) and As(5+) concentrations were strongly correlated with biological toxicity as they promoted the formation of DBP. A geographic information system (GIS) and the above results revealed that the area near the seashore is rich in Br(-) wherever high As(5+) concentration and bio-toxicity are detected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Hungkuang University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
authors.forename: Winn-Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No.181, Sec. 3, Taichung Port Rd., Xitun Dist., Taichung City 407, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
authors.forename: Yu-Hao
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No.181, Sec. 3, Taichung Port Rd., Xitun Dist., Taichung City 407, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
authors.forename: Wei-Yea
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tunghai University, No.181, Sec. 3, Taichung Port Rd., Xitun Dist., Taichung City 407, Taiwan (R.O.C.). Electronic address: hwchen@thu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Ho-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National United University, Miao-Li, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
authors.forename: Ruey-Fang
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000032:analysis; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000032:analysis*; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D013624:Taiwan; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D022882:Trihalomethanes / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D004202:Disinfectants; D022882:Trihalomethanes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Biological toxicity; Disinfection by-products (DBPs); Groundwater; Redundancy analysis (RDA); Seawater intrusion