Sediments as a sink for UV filters and benzotriazoles: the case study of Upper Iguaçu watershed, Curitiba (Brazil)

Abstract

Ingredients in home and personal care products, including UV filters and benzotriazoles, are high production volume chemicals extensively used in our daily life, despite several studies revealed their potential eco-toxicity and endocrine-disrupting capacity. Due to some features, such as high lipophilicity, low degradability, and persistence of many of these compounds, sediments can be considered a sink for them in the aquatic environment. In the present study, nine organic UV filters and three benzotriazoles were investigated for the first time in sediments from four urban rivers in Brazil. The contaminants were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results revealed that octocrylene (OC), etylhexyl-methoxycinnamate (EHMC), benzophenone-3 (oxybenzone, BP3), and benzotriazole (BZT) were the predominant compounds adsorbed on the sediments, with concentrations ranging from 5.6 to 322.2 ng g dry weight. The results reported in this work constitute the first data on the accumulation of polar benzotriazoles and lipophilic organic UV filters in sediments from Brazil.

Behavior of UV Filters, UV Blockers and Pharmaceuticals in High Rate Algal Ponds Treating Urban Wastewater

“…The role of WWTP effluent discharges as main contributors to the presence of benzotriazoles in aquatic ecosystems is generally highlighted in the bibliography [37,38,59], and the low biodegradability of these substances makes these concentrations cumulative in sediments and also in living organisms at different trophic levels [62]. Indeed, concentrations up to 8529 ng L −1 for BZT have been found in highly-impacted rivers in the Barcelona Metropolitan area [40], but it is generally detected at lower concentrations in surface waters.…”

“…[60]. The low removal of this compound in WWTP explains their ubiquity and impact in the receiving surface waters [61,62], Removal of MeBZT was similar (0-19%), and higher concentrations in the effluent than in the influent were frequently observed. MeBZT is also frequently found in surface waters and groundwaters in urban areas, at concentrations up to 7181 ng L −1 and 1980 ng L −1 , respectively [40,43].…”

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the urban aquifer of Zaragoza (Spain) and its relationship with intensive shallow geothermal energy exploitation

“…DMBZT compounds had a tendency to decrease as the unsaturated (vadose) thickness increased (ρ = -0.384, p = 0.058). DMBZTs is used as anticorrosive agent in many daily use products, such as dishwasher detergents, which make them to be found very frequently and at high concertation levels in waste waters form urban origin (Mizukawa et al, 2017). Antibiotics correlated significantly with pH (ρ = 0.439, p = 0.028).…”

Screen-Printed Electrodes for the Voltammetric Sensing of Benzotriazoles in Water

“…Benzotriazoles (BZTs) encompasses a wide group of substances that have been commercialized since the late 1950s. Today they are high production volume industrial chemicals used as UV light stabilizers in many products including food packaging, automotive products, lubricants and grease, dishwasher detergents, anti-icing and defrosting products, textiles, plastics, and rubber materials [6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…The determination of BZTs in the diverse environmental samples is mainly carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). This technique provides the high sensitivity and selectivity required for the trace levels at which these compounds occur in the environment [5,6]. However, it has some disadvantages, such as the high cost of instrumentation and operation, relatively large amount of waste generated, need for specialized analysts (due to the complexity of the instrumentation), and the other operations it entails (for example time-consuming pre-treatments).…”