Study finds potentially toxic by-product from water disinfectant

WASHINGTON - A group of chemical compounds used to disinfect water for one-third of the US population and millions of others globally produces a potentially toxic by-product, according to research published on Nov 21, sparking calls for an immediate investigation into possible health impacts.

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Inorganic chloramines have been used for decades to remove pathogens from public water supplies.

Though chlorine remains the most widely used disinfectant in the US and globally, chloramines have increasingly replaced it in many systems to reduce certain by-products linked to bladder and colon cancer, low birth weight and miscarriages.

Today, more than 113 million Americans rely on chloraminated drinking water, with the compound also in use across Canada, Asia and Europe.