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  • Occurrence and behavior of four of the most used sunscreen UV filters in a wastewater reclamation plant.

Occurrence and behavior of four of the most used sunscreen UV filters in a wastewater reclamation plant.

Water research (2007-06-29)
Weihong Li, Yongmin Ma, Changsheng Guo, Wei Hu, Keming Liu, Yuqiu Wang, Tan Zhu
ABSTRACT

Four UV filters, benzophenone-3 (BP-3), 4-methylbenzylidence camphor (4-MBC), ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC), and octocrylene (OC), have been examined along the different units of a wastewater reclamation plant (WWRP) located in Tianjin, North China. The analytical procedure included solid-phase extraction and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analyses. All four UV filters were detected in the influent during the three sampling campaigns (February, July, and September), and the concentrations ranged from 34 to 2128 ng L(-1). The concentrations of the four UV filters were higher in hot weather (July and September) than in cool weather (February). The monthly average removal ranged from 7.6% to 21% for the selected UV filters during coagulation-flocculation (C-F) treatment. The ozonation treatment achieved the maximum removal (16-28%); on the contrary, the continuous microfiltration (CMF) achieved the lowest removal (3.6-8.2%). The total removal efficiencies along the plant varied from 28% to 43%. These results indicate that the UV filters are not completely removed during WWRP treatment and may be carried over into the environment during the reuse applications.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Supelco
Octocrylene, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
Supelco
Octocrylene, analytical standard
Sigma-Aldrich
2-Ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate, 97%