Surfactants are prevalent in household products, especially disinfectants. These surfactants end up in wastewater and may end up in the environment and drinking water sources through the discharge of treated wastewater. One particular group of surfactants, quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), are not well removed during wastewater treatment. A well-known QAC, benzalkonium chloride, has been identified as a precursor for N-nitrosodimethylamine, an unregulated yet highly studied disinfection byproduct (DBP). The increase in QACs due to COVID-19 was motivation to investigate QACs as precursors to other DBPs. Seven QACs with varying structural characteristics were subjected to chlorination and chloramination formation potential tests to assess their ability to serve as DBP precursors. QACs formed trihalomethanes, nitrosamines and haloacetonitriles; the latter has not been reported before. In the presence of bromide, there was a shift in DBP speciation from chlorinated to brominated DBPs, which resulted in an overall higher toxicity. QACs with aromatic structures had higher DBP molar yields compared to alkyl chains. With higher concentrations of QACs detected in surface waters due to increased disinfection during COVID-19, there is potential to see increases in DBPs in drinking water.

Quaternary ammonium compounds serve as disinfection byproduct precursors

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.