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Kenneth L. Froese,¹ Martha I. Sinclair,² and Steve E. Hrudey¹

¹Environmental Health Sciences Program, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; ²Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Medical School, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

We addressed the need for a biomarker of ingestion exposure to drinking water disinfection by-products by performing a human exposure trial. We evaluated urinary excretion of trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) as an exposure biomarker using 10 volunteers who normally consume their domestic tap water. We recruited the volunteers at a water quality research laboratory in Adelaide, Australia. Participants maintained a detailed consumption and exposure diary over the 5-week study. We also analyzed tap water and first morning urine (FMU) samples for TCAA, and tap water for chloral hydrate (CH) . We documented both interindividual and intraindividual variability in TCAA ingestion and urinary excretion, and both were substantial. With a TCAA-free bottled water intervention, we used creatinine-adjusted urinary TCAA levels to estimate urinary TCAA excretion half-lives for three of the participants. We observed correspondence over time between estimated TCAA excretion, calculated from TCAA + CH ingestion levels, and measured TCAA urinary excretion. This study demonstrates the merits and feasibility of using TCAA in FMU as an exposure biomarker, and reveals remaining concerns about possible alternate sources of TCAA exposure for individuals with low drinking water ingestion exposure. Key words: disinfection by-products, drinking water, exposure assessment, haloacetic acids, trichloroacetic acid. Environ Health Perspect 110:679-687 (2002) . [Online 28 May 2002]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2002/110p679-687froese/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to K.L. Froese, Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Bldg., Edmonton, AB T6G 2G3, Canada. E-mail: Kenneth.Froese@ualberta.ca

We thank D. Graham, E. Braekevelt, M. Ongley, J. Rose, K. Simpson, and K. Hayes for their expert and willing technical and logistical assistance ; D. Bull for suggesting TCAA for biomarker investigation ; and C. Weisel for providing information on his experience with TCAA.

We thank the volunteers from the Australian Water Quality Centre and the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment, Alberta Health and Wellness, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Strategic Grants program for financial support of this research.

Received 19 June 2001 ; accepted 11 January 2002.