Benefit-cost estimation for alternative drinking water maximum contaminant levels

Regulating Drinking Water Quality Incrementally: Better than Benefit-cost Analysis?

The use of benefit-cost analysis has expanded over the last twenty five years and now plays a key role in the formulation of new regulations, even regulations for the protection of human health. Regulatory decision making is, of necessity, based on pre-regulatory paper studies of costs and benefits. There has been relatively little post-regulatory validation of these benefit-cost estimates, but...

Maximum contaminant levels and environmental injuries.

N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) as a Drinking Water Contaminant: A Review

N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) is a member of a family of extremely potent carcinogens, the N-nitrosamines. Until recently, concerns about NDMA mainly focused on the presence of NDMA in food, consumer products, and polluted air. However, current concern focuses on NDMA as a drinking water contaminant resulting from reactions occurring during chlorination or via direct industrial contamination. B...

Estimation of incidence and social cost of colon cancer due to nitrate in drinking water in the EU: a tentative cost-benefit assessment

BACKGROUND Presently, health costs associated with nitrate in drinking water are uncertain and not quantified. This limits proper evaluation of current policies and measures for solving or preventing nitrate pollution of drinking water resources. The cost for society associated with nitrate is also relevant for integrated assessment of EU nitrogen policies taking a perspective of welfare optimi...

Modeling and testing of reactive contaminant transport in drinking water pipes: chlorine response and implications for online contaminant detection.

A modified one-dimensional Danckwerts convection-dispersion-reaction (CDR) model is numerically simulated to explain the observed chlorine residual loss for a "slug" of reactive contaminants instantaneously introduced into a drinking water pipe of assumed no or negligible wall demand. In response to longitudinal dispersion, a contaminant propagates into the bulk phase where it reacts with disin...