What types of chemical contaminant groups are monitored?

The monitoring of chemical contaminant groups is crucial for ensuring safe drinking water and protecting public health. The correct response emphasizes the classification of contaminants into three primary groups: Inorganic Compounds (IOC's), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's), and Synthetic Organic Compounds (SOC's).

Inorganic Compounds encompass a broad range of substances that include metals and minerals, which can affect water quality and pose health risks. This group includes harmful elements like lead and arsenic.

Volatile Organic Compounds are organic chemicals that have significant vapor pressures, allowing them to easily enter the atmosphere and potentially contaminate drinking water sources. VOCs can originate from industrial processes, solvents, and gasoline.

Synthetic Organic Compounds are man-made chemicals often used in agriculture, such as pesticides and herbicides, that can leach into water supplies and create contamination issues.

Recognizing these groups is essential for water quality management and compliance with regulations that aim to protect human health and the environment from chemical contaminants in water supplies. The other answer choices do contain relevant aspects of water quality, but they do not precisely represent the major groups monitored for chemical contaminants in the same systematic way as IOC's, VOC's, and SOC's.