Disinfectants and Disinfectant By-Products - Environmental Health Criteria 216

Chlorine (Cl,) has been widely used throughout the world as a chemical disinfectant, serving as the principal barrier to microbial contaminants in drinking-water. The noteworthy biocidal attributes of chlorine have been somewhat offset by the formation of disinfectant by-products (DBPs) of public health concern during the chlorination process. As a consequence, alternative chemical disinfectants, such as ozone (0), chlorine dioxide (dO2) and chloramines (NII 2CI, monochloramine), are increasingly being used; however, each has been shown to form its own set of DBPs.