Public large scale use of chlorine-disinfected water began in the early years of the 20th century and resulted in dramatic reductions in observed rates of dysentery causing diseases, particularly cholera and typhoid infections 1 . Today in the USA 98% of water treatment plants use chlorine-based disinfectants to treat water 2 and similar chlorine disinfection use patterns of water treatment occ...

The effect of chlorine-induced bacterial injury on spectral features using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) absorbance spectroscopy was studied using a mixed bacterial culture of (1:1) ca. 500 CFU/mL each Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 in 0.9% saline. Bacterial cells were treated with 0, 0.3, or 1.0 ppm of initial free chlorine (21 degrees C, 1 h of contact ...

Persistence of Bacillus globigii spores, a surrogate for Bacillus anthracis, was studied on biofouled concrete-lined slides in drinking water using biofilm annular reactors. Reactors were inoculated with B. globigii spores and persistence was monitored in the bulk and biofilm phases, first in dechlorinated water and later with free chlorine concentrations of 1 and 5 mg/L. In the dechlorinated s...

In human subjects 15-min exposure to 0.5-1.0 ppm chlorine gas causes a nasal obstructive response in the absence of a marked sensation of irritation. The current investigation was designed to assess the response of the mouse for comparative purposes. Respiratory physiological responses were measured in female C57Bl/6J mice exposed to 0.8 to 4.0 ppm chlorine gas. Chlorine was a potent sensory ir...

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the change in Bacillus subtilis spore survival and dimensions following ultraviolet and chlorine disinfection in water. Disinfection was monitored by using tools such as atomic force microscopy AFM , particle sizing by the electrozone sensing technique and fluorescence of spores after staining with an optical brightener. Results indicated that there wa...

We studied the resistance of various mycobacteria isolated from a water distribution system to chlorine. Chlorine disinfection efficiency is expressed as the coefficient of lethality (liters per minute per milligram) as follows: Mycobacterium fortuitum (0.02) > M. chelonae (0.03) > M. gordonae (0.09) > M. aurum (0.19). For a C.t value (product of the disinfectant concentration and contact time)...

The controllable preparation of nano-gold catalyst maintains a challenge. Except the parameters have been revealed before, here we'd like to show that controllable preparation of active nano-gold catalyst can be achieved using chlorine as an indicator. By tracing the chlorine concentration in the washing step, a series of Au/Fe2O3 catalysts were prepared with co-precipitation method. The applyi...

A workplace bleach exposure incident was studied in 13 women to determine whether chlorine caused neurobehavioral and pulmonary functional effects. We compared neurophysiological and neuropsychological measurements in 13 chlorine-exposed women, 4.5 years after exposure, and 41 unexposed women. Reaction times, balance, blink reflex latency, color discrimination and several psychological tests we...

Disinfection of produce is principally used to inactivate spoilage microbes and may also reduce the risk of consumer exposure to enteric pathogens. However, the rate and extent of enteric virus inactivation by free chlorine on produce has not been adequately characterized. Experiments were performed to determine the kinetics of free chlorine inactivation of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and the indic...