Advances in analytical methods and occurrence of organic UV-filters in the environment — A review

Abstract

UV-filters are a group of compounds designed mainly to protect skin against UVA and UVB radiation, but they are also included in plastics, furniture, etc., to protect products from light damage. Their massive use in sunscreens for skin protection has been increasing due to the awareness of the chronic and acute effects of UV radiation. Some organic UV-filters have raised significant concerns in the past few years for their continuous usage, persistent input and potential threat to ecological environment and human health. UV-filters end up is wastewater and because wastewater treatment plants are not efficient in removing them, lipophilic compounds tend to sorb onto sludge and hydrophilics end up in river water, contaminating the existing biota. To better understand the risk associated with UV-filters in the environment a thorough review regarding their physicochemical properties, toxicity and environmental degradation, analytical methods and their occurrence was conducted.Higher UV-filter concentrations were found in rivers, reaching 0.3 mg/L for the most studied family, the benzophenone derivatives. Concentrations in the ng to µg/L range were also detected for the paminobenzoic acid, cinnamate, crylene and benzoyl methane derivatives in lake and sea water.Although at lower levels (few ng/L), UV-filters were also found in tap and groundwater. Swimming pool water is also a sink for UV-filters and its chlorine by-products, at the µg/L range, highlighting the benzophenone and benzimidazole derivatives. Soils and sediments are not frequently studied, but concentrations in the µg/L range have already been found especially for the benzophenone and crylene derivatives. Aquatic biota is frequently studied and UV-filters are found in the ng/g-dw range with higher values for fish and mussels. It has been concluded that more information regarding UVfilter degradation studies both in water and sediments is necessary and environmental occurrences should be monitored more frequently and deeply. SEHSDT -sequential extraction with high-speed dispersion tool; SLE -solid-liquid extraction; SPEsolid-phase extraction; SPF -sun protection factor; SPLE -selective pressurized liquid extraction;SPMDs -semipermeable membrane devices; SPME -solid phase microextraction; TD -thermal desorption; TCE -tetrachloroethylene; THF -tetrahydrofuran; Tl -toluene; UPLC -ultraperformance liquid chromatography; USE -ultrasound extraction; UV -ultraviolet; WTP -water treatment plant; WWTP -wastewater treatment plant 4

Degradation of Organic UV filters in Chlorinated Seawater Swimming Pools: Transformation Pathways and Bromoform Formation

“…Since sunscreens usually contain combinations of multiple UV filters, the discrepancy in variation in the concentrations of the different UV filters in pools could be partially caused by different stability/reactivity characteristics of the UV filters in the presence of oxidants. 3 In German swimming pools, where pool disinfection guidelines recommend maintaining free residual chlorine level between 0.3 and 0.6 mg L -1 , relatively high concentrations of UV filters reaching 40 µg L -1 were reported in pools. 10 In other countries where higher levels of residual chlorine are recommended, lower concentrations of UV filters reaching the ng L -1 range were reported.…”

Sequential assessment via daphnia and zebrafish for systematic toxicity screening of heterogeneous substances

“…In U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved sunscreen substances, the concentration of a specific UV-filter varies in between 0.5 and 25% (Sambandan and Ratner, 2011). It is estimated that these UV filters have been constantly produced more than 10,000 tons annually for the global market and entered aquatic environment via either direct pathways such as human recreational activities or indirect pathways such as wastewater (Ramos et al, 2015). To evaluate the combined toxicities of mixtures with various combination of UV-filters rather than a single UV-filter, two different types of UV-filters, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC) (UVA protection) (Christen et al, 2011;Kaiser et al, 2012a;Sieratowicz et al, 2011) and Benzophenone-3 (BP-3) (UVB protection) Sieratowicz et al, 2011), were chosen based on their toxicities to aquatic organisms.…”

Trace organic contaminants in biosolids: Impact of conventional wastewater and sludge processing technologies and emerging alternatives

“…One of the most notable reactions is the aerobic biodegradation of long chain nonylphenol ethoxylates into short chain nonylphenol ethoxylates followed by the anaerobic degradation of the ethoxylate groups that increases the concentration of nonylphenol in sludge [4,46]. Metabolites from the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals [42,47], linear alkyl benzene sulfonates [48], and UV filters [49] in sludge were also identified, as well as products from bioconversion among hormones [50,51]. However, limited information is available on the biodegradation pathways of TrOCs due to the wide range of compounds in real wastewater, which makes it difficult to relate detected metabolites to the parent compounds [49,52].…”

“…Metabolites from the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals [42,47], linear alkyl benzene sulfonates [48], and UV filters [49] in sludge were also identified, as well as products from bioconversion among hormones [50,51]. However, limited information is available on the biodegradation pathways of TrOCs due to the wide range of compounds in real wastewater, which makes it difficult to relate detected metabolites to the parent compounds [49,52]. The complexity of the sludge matrix also creates issues in sample extraction and analysis [49,53].…”

“…However, limited information is available on the biodegradation pathways of TrOCs due to the wide range of compounds in real wastewater, which makes it difficult to relate detected metabolites to the parent compounds [49,52]. The complexity of the sludge matrix also creates issues in sample extraction and analysis [49,53]. Therefore, it is beneficial to observe biodegradation of individual compounds by pure cultures to understand potential reaction pathways in sludge.…”