Scientists aren’t sure whether a chemical that’s commonly found in American municipal water systems is toxic.
The chemical, chloronitramide anion, was discovered 40 years ago — meaning people have been consuming it for decades. But scientists have only recently been able to properly identify it as a byproduct that’s produced when chloramine is added to water, according to a study published in the journal Science.
Specifically, chloramine is used to kill viruses and bacteria, NBC News reports. And as the study explains, “inorganic chloramines are commonly used drinking water disinfectants intended to safeguard public health and curb regulated disinfection by-product formation.”
But its impact on humans is unknown — and concerning — since “it has similarity to other toxic molecules,” study author David Wahman, a research environmental engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency, told NBC.
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“We looked for it in 40 samples in 10 U.S. chlorinated drinking water systems located in seven states. We did find it in all the samples.”
As the study says, chloronitramide anion could be in the water of up to a third of U.S. homes, since 113 million homes receive water that’s been treated with chloramine.
The study’s lead author, Julian Fairey, told NBC, “We don’t know the toxicity, but this study has enabled us to be able to do that work now.”
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One scientist pointed out that it’s likely the chemical is, indeed, toxic.
“It’s a pretty small molecule and it can probably for that reason enter into biological systems and into cells. And it is still a reactive molecule,” David Reckhow, a research professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told NBC. “Those are the kinds of things you worry about.”
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