Water disinfection can create an unintended chemical risk from the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Epidemiological studies have shown a potential association of water disinfection with an increased risk of bladder cancer. The DBPs responsible for the observed adverse health effects remain unclear. Identification of DBPs of health relevance presents a great analytical challenge. Halobenzoquinones (HBQs) are a unique class of emerging DBPs of potential toxicological relevance.
In this lecture, the speaker will cover the analytical characterization, occurrence, formation, transformation, and removal of HBQ DBPs in drinking water. Specifically, she will discuss the challenges of HBQ analytical method development and the resulting solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry techniques that achieve the determination of HBQs at ng/L levels in water. Other techniques for HBQ analysis, including ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, will be briefly discussed.
About the speaker
Prof. Li Xing-fang received her PhD in Environmental/Analytical Chemistry from the University of British Columbia in 1994. She did her NSERC Industrial Postdoctoral research in Bioanalytical Chemistry at the University of Alberta during 1995-1999 with the support of MDS Sciex and was appointed as an Assistant Professor at 2001. She has been a Full Professor of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology since 2010.
Prof. Li’s research focuses on the development of analytical and toxicological technologies for water research. Her diverse research, including development of analytical technology and detection of water contaminants, microbial pathogens, proteins, and therapeutics, has been published in Analytical Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Research in Toxicology, Environmental Science and Technology, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Nature Communications.
Prof. Li’s previous awards include the Environment Division Research & Development Dima Award (2017) and the W.A.E. McBryde Medal (2010). She also received the Excellence in Mentoring Award (2014) and Annual Killam Professorship (2013) from the University of Alberta. Prof. Li was elected a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 2014.
