수계 내 테트라사이클린, 설파다이아졸, 트리톤 X-100 혼합물의 광분해

BACKGROUND: Chemicals such as antibiotics and surfactants can enter agricultural environment and they can be degraded by natural processes such as photolysis. These chemicals exist in mixtures in the environment, but studies on degradation of the mixtures are limited. This study compares the photodegradation of Triton X-100 (TX) and antibiotics [tetracycline (TC) and sulfathiazole (STH)] when they are in a single solution or in mixtures. METHODS AND RESULTS: TC, STH, and TX solutions were exposed to UV-A for the photodegradation tests for 14 days. The residual TC, STH, and TX concentrations were analyzed by using HPLC. The TC degradation was similar regardless of the presence of TX, while the TX degradation was lower in the presence of TC. The STH degradation was similar regardless of the presence of TX, while the TX degradation was greater in the presence of STH. However, the STH degradation was slower in the TC-STH-TX mixture than in the STH-TX mixture. Also, the TX degradation was negligible in the TC-STH-TX mixture. The results show that the photodegradation of TC, STH, and TX can be different in mixtures. This can be attributed to the different emission and absorption wavelengths of each compound and interaction between these compounds and photoproducts. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study emphasizes that photodegradation of single chemicals and chemical mixtures can be different, and more studies on single compounds as well as mixtures are required to understand the fate of chemicals in the environment in order to manage them properly.