Toxicological Evaluation of Products Formed by Ozonation of Aqueous Organics.

Ozonation has recently been utilized in the water purification process for controlling trihalomethanes, oxidation of organic compounds with undesirable organoleptic properties and color removal, particularly in Europe. Although ozone is an effective oxidant, it is necessary from the viewpoint of public health to assess the genotoxic potentials of ozonation products from various contaminants in drinking water. This review is undertaken to summarize the mutagenicity and toxicological data of concentrates of drinking water or humic solution after ozonation. The identified ozonation products are evaluated toxicologically. Formaldehyde, glyoxal and methylglyoxal which possess high genotoxic potential may be good indicators for controlling ozonation products.