Identification of drinking water contaminants in the course of a childhood cancer investigation in Toms River, New Jersey

Abstract

Using a combination of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography/infrared spectroscopy (GC/IR) spectroscopic techniques, chemical contaminants and their hydrolysis products were identified in well water sampled in connection with a suspected childhood cancer cluster located in Dover Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. The drinking water contamination resulted from the leaching of industrial waste chemicals from drums that were disposed of at the site known as Reich Farm. Contaminants identified include dinitrile-tetralin compounds, known as `trimers,' that are by-products of a polymerization process widely used by several polymer manufacturers during the 1970s and 1980s (and still used today). Also identified were `trimer' hydrolysis products, formed by the hydrolysis of their nitrile groups to amides. These industrial contaminants were not present in any of the mass or IR spectral library databases, and their identification required unconventional spectroscopic methods (including high resolution mass spectrometry, chemical ionization mass spectrometry, and IR spectroscopy), along with scientific reasoning and interpretation. It is currently not known whether these chemical contaminants are responsible for the childhood cancers observed in this area.