There is Something in the Water! Correlation of Trihalomethanes with Head and Neck Cancer in the Tampa Bay Area
Date
2020-05-12
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Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, The University of Tampa
Abstract
Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) are carcinogenic by-products that are formed due to the chlorination of drinking water. A headspace GC-MS method has been optimized for sensing the TTHM concentrations in a 30-zipcode region of Hillsborough county. These parameters were set in place to better detect the individual THMs: chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane concentrations, as well as to determine the free chlorine levels (determined by colorimeter) in the drinking water around the Tampa Bay area. For optimization of sensitivity, the following parameters were changed: flow rate from 1.0 mL/min to 0.8 mL/min, GC oven temperature from 80°C to 40°C, vial incubation time from 3m:ss to 5m:ss, speed of injection from 250µL/s to 500µL/s, and fill speed from 100µL/s to 200µL/s. These parameters have allowed the measurement of TTHM as low as ppb. The TTHM concentrations found in the drinking water were compared to the TTHM standards (EPA: 80 ppb, WHO:10 ppb, EWG: 0.15 ppb). Additionally, correlations between TTHM’s found in drinking water and head-and-neck cancer rates by zipcode in the Tampa Bay area will be evaluated.
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Keywords
Tampa Bay, Undergraduate Research, Biology