DAGS FÖR NYA PERSPEKTIV PÅ DRICKSVATTENKLORERING OCH RISKER? / Time for New Perspectives on the Risks of Drinking Water Chlorination?
The past decade’s chemical, toxicological and epidemiological research on by-products of drinking water chlorination has been reviewed. A large number of by-products has been identified and tested in different bioassays, and, recently, considerable progress has been made in the identification of Ames mutagenic byproducts. Still, there is little hope that the present uncertainty of chemical-toxicological risk estimates may be drastically reduced. Epidemiological studies of cancer in relation to drinking water chlorination has strengthened the motive for taking the chlorination issue seriously, even though there is insufficient knowledge to strictly confirm any health effects. The use of comparative risk analysis and the accomplishment of more stringent analyses of the purpose and necessity of drinking water chlorination appear to be the most realistic ways of improving the scientific basis for decisions on drinking water disinfection.