Formation of typical disinfection by-products (DBPs) during chlorination and chloramination of polymyxin B sulfate

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) formed in chlorination and chloramination are proved to be cytotoxic and genotoxic and arouse increasing attention. However, previous studies of DBP precursors mainly focused on free amino acids (AAs) and few papers evaluated DBPs' formation potential of combined AAs. This study demonstrated that typical carbonaceous (C-) DBPs, trihalomethanes (THMs) and typical nitrogenous (N-) DBPs, dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN), trichloroacetonitrile (TCAN) and trichloronitromethane (TCNM) could be formed during chlorination and chloramination of polymyxin B sulfate (PBS), a common polypeptide antibiotic working against Gram-negative bacterial infections. The effects of major parameters, including disinfectant dose, contact time, solution pH, temperature, bromide concentration and chloramination mode were evaluated in batch experiments. Different kinds of DBPs exhibited different characteristics as disinfectant dose or contact time increased. Solution pH and temperature affected the formation of DBPs greatly. The formation pathways of different DBPs from chlor(am)ination of PBS were also proposed. Combined AAs, such as PBS, were proved to be important precursors of DBPs during disinfections.