Chloronitramide anion
Structural diagram | |
Spacefill diagram | |
| Names | |
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| IUPAC name
Chloro(nitro)azanide | |
| Other names
Chloronitramide anion | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) |
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PubChem CID |
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| Properties | |
| ClN2O2− | |
| Molar mass | 95.46 g/mol |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
Infobox references | |
The chloronitramide anion, also known as chloro(nitro)azanide, is a chemical byproduct of the disinfectant chloramine first identified in 2024. It is present in the tap water of about 113 million people in the United States in varying concentrations. Its toxicity has not yet been determined, although it may be removable by an activated carbon filter. Although its molecular formula and structure were unknown, it was first recorded as a byproduct of chloramine in the early 1980s.
Chloramine is often used as an alternative to chlorine for water disinfection because of chlorine's harmful byproducts, and on the basis that clean water improves health much more than small concentrations of byproducts harm it. Other methods of disinfection exist, including ozone (popular in European countries) and UV light, but these cannot currently be used in the US because the law requires water to have small residual amounts of disinfectant to prevent re-infection.
One study of 40 locations in the US found a median chloronitramide anion concentration of 23 micrograms per liter in drinking water, with a first quartile of 1.3 and a third quartile of 92.