U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2700

A -- SOURCES SOUGHT FOR IDENTIFICATION AND MECHANISMS OF FORMATION OF CHLORINE DIOXIDE DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS IN WATERS CONTAINING ELEVATED BROMIDE LEVELS POC Christopher L. Byrne, Acquisition Manager, (706) 355-8010 WEB: Information on research conducted by and supported by NERL/ERD-Athens, http://www.epa.gov/AthensR/. E-MAIL: For additional information or to submit information by e-mail., Byrne.Christopher@epamail.epa.gov. The USEPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division (NERL/ERD-Athens), located in Athens, Georgia is contemplating a non-competitive award of a cooperative agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Health, The purpose of this Cooperative Agreement, to be awarded in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, as Amended, is to provide for the support or stimulation of research related to Identification and Mechanisms of Formation of Chlorine Dioxide Disinfection By-products in Waters Containing Elevated Bromide Levels. Chlorine dioxide is currently used in approximately 500 drinking water treatment plants in the U.S., including such cities as Philadelphia, Shreveport, El Paso, and Galveston. There is still much uncertainty in knowing what by-products people are exposed to through water treated with chlorine dioxide. The only comprehensive study was performed by our research group at NERL/ERD-Athens. For the proposed study, we would like to support research addressing the potential problem of natural bromide in raw waters reacting with chlorine dioxide and organic matter. This is a significant problem when ozone is used to treat bromide-containing waters because brominated disinfection by-products are formed, and brominated compounds are typically more toxic than their chlorinated analogs. Most of the concerns center on bromide, due to its animal carcinogenicity, and as such, it will be a newly regulated compound. No study has ever addressed the similar situation with chlorine dioxide. The questions to address are: Are brominated by-products formed with chlorine dioxide treatment, and if so, are there any which have potential health concerns? In addition to the identification of by-products, mechanistic studies would be performed to determine how they are formed in order to potentially minimize the formation of any potentially toxic by-products. Based on a review of the scientific literature, there is no other entity conducting this research and no other entity that has access to a water treatment plant that uses chlorine dioxide and uses source water that contains natural, elevated levels of bromide. Although the intention is to award a sole-source cooperative agreement, the NERL/ERD-Athens is committed to providing for competition of assistance awards unless there is truly one entity that can utilize the funds for the specified purpose. As such, NERL/ERD-Athens will give full consideration to written responses from Higher Education Institutions and Non-Profit Entities that feel that they can perform the same research. These responses should contain brief descriptions of similar research previously conducted in this area and a bibliographic listing of peer-reviewed publications related to this research area. Responses should be mailed to the National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecosystems Research Division, Attn: Christopher Byrne, 960 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2700. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted, but the responses may be e-mailed to Byrne.Christopher@epamail.epa.gov. See Note 25. Additional Information about research conducted by NERL/ERD-Athens and sign-up information for electronic distribution of RFAs is available at http://www.epa.gov/AthensR/. Information about the USEPA Office of Research and Development Grants and Fellowships Programs is available at http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa/. (0119)

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