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Sonolytic degradation of benzophenone-3 in water matrices: Reaction mechanism, transformation products, ecotoxicological implications & microplastic interaction
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Researchers studied the sonolytic degradation of the UV filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3) in different water matrices using low-frequency ultrasound, achieving >97% removal within 120 minutes in ultrapure water. The presence of polystyrene microplastics reduced the degradation efficiency in some conditions by competing for reactive species.
The degradation of the UV filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3) by low-frequency ultrasound was investigated in different aqueous matrices. BP-3 sonodegradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, achieving >97 % removal of 500 μg L-1 of BP-3 within 120 min in ultrapure water (UPW), using a 20 kHz ultrasound horn at 71 W L-1. Varying the initial pH from 3 to 6 and 9 had only a slight effect on the process efficacy, with corresponding kinetic constant rates of 0.029, 0.030, and 0.041 min-1, respectively. Experiments conducted in different water matrices showed a decrease in the apparent rate constant from 0.030 min-1 in ultrapure water to 0.027 min-1 in drinking water and 0.015 min-1 in secondary effluent. Similarly, the presence of 250 mg L-1 of chlorides or 10 mg L-1 of humic acid reduced the degradation rate to 0.016 and 0.020 min-1, respectively, while 250 mg L-1 of hydrogen carbonate had no significant effect. The presence of nano- or microplastics led to a moderate decrease in BP-3 removal, particularly with smaller particles. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy confirmed that fewer hydroxyl radicals were available in the presence of plastics. Twelve transformation products were identified by UHPLC-TOF/MS, resulting mainly from hydroxylation, demethylation, and ring-cleavage. According to the ecotoxicity analysis using the ECOSAR software, most of the transformation products were less toxic than the parent compound, enhancing the environmental feasibility of the process.
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