Abstract
We have identified the cause of the formaldehyde pollution that occurred in the Tonegawa River system in May, 2012. We analyzed 10 river water samples that were collected in the Edogawa River using a liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and a liquid chromatography/ ion-trap time-offlight mass spectrometry (LC/IT-TOF-MS). As a result, hexamethylenetetramine was detected in all the water samples. Further, significant relationship was observed between the hexamethylenetetramine and the formaldehyde concentration in the same sample (r2=0.9576). Furthermore, formaldehyde concentration calculated by the reaction formula was very similar to the measured formaldehyde concentration in each sample. Therefore, we concluded that the cause of the formaldehyde pollution was the inflow of hexamethylenetetramines in the river system. Further, we focus the future issues on the management of unregulated chemicals in drinking water.
