Implications of treating water containing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons with chlorine: a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric study.

The products of aqueous chlorination reactions of 1-methylnaphthalene, fluorene, dibenzofuran, anthracene, phenanthrene, 1-methylphenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene have been determined. The conditions employed for these reactions approximated those that might be encountered in water treatment facilities. Reactions at pH greater than 6 tended to produce oxygenated products (epoxides, phenols, quinones, etc.), and reactions at pH less than 6 tended to produce both oxygenated (quinones) and chlorinated products.