The Determination of Total Organic Halide in Water: A Comparative Study of Two Instruments

Abstract

Abstract Total organic halide (TOX) analyzers are commonly used to measure the amount of dissolved halogenated organic byproducts in disinfected waters. Because of the lack of information on the identity of disinfection byproducts, rigorous testing of the dissolved organic halide (DOX) procedure for method bias is not always possible. This note presents the results of a brief study comparing two commercial TOX analyzers with neutron activation. The purpose was to determine if differential bias exists between the two analyzers, and to determine analyte recovery of adsorbed disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts of aquatic fulvic acid were prepared using the following disinfectants: chlorine, bromine, and monochloramine. Analysis of these samples indicated that the two commercial TOX analyzers gave similar results. Neutron activation analysis suggested that organic chlorine recovery from the activated carbon adsorbent was complete, however results with organic bromine recovery were inconclusive. Additional tests indicated that one of the TOX analyzers is subject to significant interferences from inorganic iodide.