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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

High Content Screening Analysis to Evaluate the Toxicological Effects of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHC)
Published on: May 10, 2016
Haloacetonitriles vs. regulated haloacetic acids: are nitrogen-containing DBPs more toxic?
Mark G Muellner1, Elizabeth D Wagner, Kristin McCalla
1College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
Haloacetonitriles (HANs) are toxic nitrogenous drinking water disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) and are observed with chlorine, chloramine, or chlorine dioxide disinfection. Using microplate-based Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell assays for chronic cytotoxicity and acute genotoxicity, we analyzed 7 HANs: iodoacetonitrile (IAN), bromoacetonitrile (BAN), dibromoacetonitrile (DBAN), bromochloroacetonitrile (BCAN), chloroacetonitrile (CAN), dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN), and trichloroacetonitrile (TCAN). The cytotoxic potency (%C1/2 values) ranged from 2.8 microM (DBAN) to 0.16 mM (TCAN), with a descending rank order of DBAN > IAN approximately BAN > BCAN > DCAN > CAN > TCAN. HANs induced acute genomic DNA damage; the single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) genotoxicity potency ranged from 37 microM (IAN) to 2.7 mM (DCAN). The rank order of declining genotoxicity was IAN > BAN approximately DBAN > BCAN > CAN > TCAN > DCAN. The accompanying structure-activity analysis of these HANs was in general agreement with the genotoxicity rank order. These data were incorporated into our growing quantitative comparative DBP cytotoxicity and genotoxicity databases. As a chemical class, the HANs are more toxic than regulated carbon-based DBPs, such as the haloacetic acids. The toxicity of N-DBPs may become a health concern because of the increased use of alternative disinfectants, such as chloramines, which may enhance the formation of N-DBPs, including HANs.
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