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Effects of UV light on physicochemical changes in thermoplastic polyurethanes: Mechanism and disinfection byproduct formation
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Researchers examined how UV light exposure changes the properties of thermoplastic polyurethane microplastics in water and whether those changes affect the formation of harmful disinfection byproducts during water chlorination. They found that UV exposure broke the plastic into smaller fragments and released soluble chemicals that significantly increased byproduct formation after chlorination. The findings suggest that aging microplastics in water systems could contribute to the creation of potentially harmful chemicals during standard water treatment.
The presence of microplastics (MPs) products and particles in the environment can significantly impact the human body. Most MPs that enter the environment also enter the water cycle. During sunlight light irradiation (especially ultraviolet (UV) part) or UV disinfection, many of these MPs, particularly those rich in surface functional groups like thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), undergo physicochemical changes that can affect the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). This study investigates the physicochemical changes of TPU in water after exposure to UV irradiation and incubation in the dark, as well as the formation of DBPs after chlorination. The results show that TPU undergo chain breakage, oxidation, and cross-linking when exposed to UV irradiation in an aqueous system. This leads to fragmentation into smaller particles, which facilitates the synthesis of DBPs. Subsequent research has demonstrated that the TPU leaching solution produces a significantly higher DBP content than the chlorination of TPU MPs, particularly at high concentrations of CHCl. Therefore, it is important to give greater consideration to the soluble DBP precursors released by TPU.
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