„Phantomchemikalie“ im Trinkwasser der USA entdeckt, über 40 Jahre nach ihrer ersten Entdeckung. Mit anorganischen Chloraminen behandeltes Wasser erzeugt als Nebenprodukt das Chlornitramid-Anion, eine Verbindung, die der Wissenschaft bisher unbekannt war. Menschen konsumieren es seit Jahrzehnten und seine Toxizität ist noch unbekannt.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk6749

Editor’s summary

Municipal drinking water in the US is often treated with chloramines to prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms, but these molecules can also react with organic and inorganic dissolved compounds to form disinfection by-products that are potentially toxic. Fairey et al. studied a previously known but uncharacterized product of mono- and dichloramine decomposition and identified it as the chloronitroamide anion (see the Perspective by McCurry). This anion was detected 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. Although toxicity is not currently known, the prevalence of this by-product and its similarity to other toxic molecules is concerning.

From the linked article:

International researchers have figured out the makeup of a “phantom chemical” found in some drinking water, over 40 years after it was first discovered. The researchers say US drinking water treated with inorganic chloramines – a treatment also common in Australian drinking water – contains by-products of the treatment process, and one such by-product has remained unidentified for decades. With help from newer technology, the researchers have identified the “unidentified product” as chloronitramide anion, a compound previously unknown to science. While humans have been consuming this compound for decades, the researchers say it’s still important to assess the toxicity of this substance now that they know what it is.

Point brought up in the news article by Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia:

>I agree that a toxicological investigation of this anion would be useful now that we know its identity, but I am not overly worried about my tap water. The compound in question is not newly discovered, just newly defined. Its presence in some (not all) drinking waters has been known for over thirty years. 
 
We should remember that the presence of a compound does not automatically mean it is causing harm. The question is not – is something toxic or not – because everything is toxic at the right amount, even water. The question is whether the substance is toxic at the amount we are exposed to. I think here the answer is probably not. Only 40 samples were tested in this study, which is not enough to be representative of all tap water in the USA and the concentration of chloronitramide was well below the regulatory limits for most disinfection by-products in the majority of samples.

Welcome to T-Dazzle. It’s not a chemical. It’s an aquatic-based social media oral experience.