Previously Unknown Compound Discovered in Drinking Water

(University of Zurich, November 22, 2024)

A scientific discovery in water safety research has emerged from a collaborative effort between Associate Professor Dr. Julian Fairey from the University of Arkansas, and Dr. Juliana Laszakovits from ETH Zurich. After ten years of meticulous research, they successfully identified a previously unknown compound in chloraminated drinking waster. The research team successfully synthesized and characterized the compound named chloronitramide anion, marking the first time it has been isolated and studied. While Switzerland's drinking water systems do not use chloramination, this circumstance provided an ideal control environment for comparison with regions like the US that use this purification method. Currently, the toxicity profile of this newly identified compound remains unknown and requires extensive further investigation.