Environmental Fate of Organic Sunscreens during Water Disinfection Processes: The Formation of Degradation By-Products and Their Toxicological Profiles

Abstract

The development of any commercial product should also be aimed at reducing the risk associated with it, according to the safe-by-design concept; that is, risk assessment should always be at the center of the design, and the impact on human and environmental health should be assessed and eliminated during the product development phase and not afterwards. Unfortunately, even today, most operators in any production sector implement the philosophy of “risk management” or rather of managing the problem when it occurs, using spot interventions instead of changing the approach. This argument is also valid in the production of solar filters, which have reached a satisfactory degree of efficiency in the face of a substantial underestimation of the risks associated with their possible environmental fate. In fact, solar filters have been found in bathing waters and their environmental fate may depend on various factors such as the pH of the water, the presence of organic material, metal ions and light, and, above all, the chemical agents used in the disinfection of the water itself. Thus, during disinfection processes, the generation of dozens of products with a lower molecular weight and generally of an aromatic nature has been tested, where some of them did not receive an exact structural definition and a precise evaluation of their precise toxicological profile. Therefore, it is interesting to draw a complete picture of organic sunscreens and of the byproducts obtained under different conditions and their related ecotoxicological profile.

Occurrence, Fate, Human Exposure, and Toxicity of Commercial Photoinitiators

“…The photodegradation of MK occurs via competitive reactions such as structure destruction of the bis-amino benzophenone and N-demethylation . Similar results have been observed for MEK in water degraded photocatalytic by UV/TiO 2 . Moreover, brominated and chlorinated transformation products of EHDAB have also been observed in water disinfection processes. , …”

“…99 Similar results have been observed for MEK in water degraded photocatalytic by UV/TiO 2 . 100 Moreover, brominated and chlorinated transformation products of EHDAB have also been observed in water disinfection processes. 101,102…”

Biodegradation Rates of Ferulic Acid Derivatives and Traditional Sunscreen Actives in Marine, Bay, and Freshwater Environments

“…While there have been many studies evaluating the photodegradation of sunscreen components, ,− biological mineralization rates under environment-like conditions are sparse . Regulatory bodies, such as European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), in some cases, categorize conventional sunscreen compounds such as HMS and EHMC as biodegradable using data from experiments which conform to test standards using wastewater treatment sludge. , While useful, these tests are not relevant to environmental degradation processes outside of a wastewater treatment plant, such as coral reefs, beaches, and freshwater.…”