{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T07:14:37Z","timestamp":1789974877350,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,15]],"date-time":"2017-05-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1494806400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chemical disinfection of water supplies brings significant public health benefits by reducing microbial contamination. The process can however, result in the formation of toxic compounds through interactions between disinfectants and organic material in the source water. These new compounds are termed disinfection by-products (DBPs). The most common are the trihalomethanes (THMs) such as trichloromethane (chloroform), dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane and tribromomethane (bromoform); these are commonly reported as a single value for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs). Analysis of DBPs is commonly performed via time- and solvent-intensive sample preparation techniques such as liquid\u2013liquid and solid phase extraction. In this study, a method using headspace gas chromatography with micro-electron capture detection was developed and applied for the analysis of THMs in drinking and recycled waters from across Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). The method allowed almost complete removal of the sample preparation step whilst maintaining trace level detection limits (&gt;1 ppb). All drinking water samples had TTHM concentrations below the Australian regulatory limit of 250 \u00b5g\/L but some were above the U.S. EPA limit of 60 \u00b5g\/L. The highest TTHM concentration was 67.2 \u00b5g\/L and lowest 22.9 \u00b5g\/L. For recycled water, samples taken directly from treatment plants held significantly higher concentrations (153.2 \u00b5g\/L TTHM) compared to samples from final use locations (4.9\u20139.3 \u00b5g\/L).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph14050527","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,15]],"date-time":"2017-05-15T12:16:12Z","timestamp":1494850572000},"page":"527","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["A New Method for the Fast Analysis of Trihalomethanes in Tap and Recycled Waters Using Headspace Gas Chromatography with Micro-Electron Capture Detection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Lydon","family":"Alexandrou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS), School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Barry","family":"Meehan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Morrison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS), School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oliver","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS), School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2579","DOI":"10.1021\/es4034765","article-title":"Formation of brominated disinfection byproducts during Chloramination of drinking water: new polar species and overall kinetics","volume":"48","author":"Zhai","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. 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