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Abstract
The goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative drinking-water
treatments designed to remove toxic and mutagenic organic micropollutants from lake
waters used for human consumption. The widely used adsorption on granular activated
carbon (GAC) filter technique was compared with the more innovative resin column techniques
(XAD4 and Ambersorb-563) and with the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) with UV/O3
and UV/O3/ H2O2. The water samples, collected from lake Como, treated with these techniques
were analysed for mutagenic activity using Ames assay, toxicity using bioluminescent
bacteria and organic compound were characterized using the GC-MS technique. The results
found a decrease of the mutagenic and toxic activities of the lake water after adsorption
on GAC and resins, while the AOP process generally increased these parameters. The
absence of mutagenic activity was found only when a GAC adsorption step was performed
in addition to the AOP process. Similar results were obtained by the toxicological
and chemical analyses. In addition, the GC-MS analysis identified some possible mutagenic
agents.