The Effect of Redox Conditions and the Role of Biomass in the Fate of Ultraviolet Filters in Porous Media
Abstract
Ultraviolet filters (UVFs) are emerging organic compounds widely present in water systems. Their main sources are sunscreens, cosmetics, and industrial products. The space-time concentration of UVFs in the water bodies is determined by a combination of co-metabolic degradation, being most efficient in the presence of labile organic carbon, and non-linear sorption, both processes being equally determinant of their bioavailability and toxicity to ecosystems and humans. UVFs are a wide group of compounds, with different sorption behavior expected depending on the individual chemical properties (pKa, Koc, Kow). For this reason, redox conditions are very relevant to understand the individual degradation capacity of the different compounds. Here, we concentrate on sorption, since the interaction of these compounds with sedimentary organic matter is not negligible. Besides this, they also have been found sorbed into biological materials. Considering that co-metabolic degradation is enhanced by biomass, and that biomass can act as a sorbent of UV-filters, the objective of this presentation is to evaluate the role of biomass growth, solid organic matter (SOM) and redox conditions in the characterization of sorption of a set of UVFs. For this purpose, we built a conceptual and a numerical model to evaluate the fate of selected UV filters, focused on both sorption and degradation. The models were validated with published data by Liu et al. (2013) , consisting in different batch experiments evaluating the fate of a cocktail of UVs under different redox conditions. The compounds evaluated included 3 ionic UVF species, as well as 2 neutral ones.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.H32C..06S
- Keywords:
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- 0414 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0432 Contaminant and organic biogeochemistry;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 1834 Human impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY