Unravelling hidden threats of water disinfection: Toxicity evaluation and toxic products identification during diclofenac degradation

Pan，Ding1,2; Zhang，Cheng3; Wang，Cai Shan1,2; Zhang，Peng4,5; Jiao，Xin Yi6; Ma，Qian Ru1; Wang，Li Ting1; Li，Dai Jun1; Li，Li Ping1,2

2024-03-15

10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123424

Environmental Pollution   影响因子和分区

0269-7491

1873-6424

Diclofenac (DCF) is a widely-used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is routinely found in surface water bodies. While ozonation and ultraviolet (UV) radiation are commonly employed as disinfection methods in water treatment processes, the degradation of DCF in these processes occurs due to the strong oxidizing activity of the reactive oxygen species produced during both ozonation and UV radiation. Despite extensive studies reporting the removal and transformation of DCF through ozone and UV treatments, the potential hidden hazards of toxicity arising from these processes as well as the identification of the toxic transformation products have often been overlooked. In this study, various toxicities including microtoxicity, genotoxicity and antiestrogenicity were evaluated using multiple in-vitro bioassays. The transformation products were identified via ultra-performance liquid chromatography equipped with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). Correlation analysis was employed to gain deeper insight into the contributions of degradation products to overall toxicity. The results revealed that DCF possessed significant genotoxic and antiestrogenic effects, but displayed minimal microtoxicity. Microtoxic products such as those containing carbazole were generated during DCF degradation with ozone, UVA and UVC. Antiestrogenic products with dichloroaniline structures were observed in DCF ozonation but not in photodegradation by UVA and UVC. These findings highlighted the hidden risks associated with the disinfection of water containing micropollutants such as DCF.

Correlation Diclofenac (DCF) Disinfection Products Toxicity

SCI

英语

其他

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

2-s2.0-85184001230

Scopus

1.Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai,519087,China
2.School of Environment,Beijing Normal University,Beijing,100875,China
3.Instrumentation and Service Center for Science and Technology,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai,519087,China
4.Guangdong Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control,School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
5.State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control,School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
6.College of Environmental Science and Engineering,China West Normal University,Nanchong,637009,China

Pan，Ding,Zhang，Cheng,Wang，Cai Shan,et al. Unravelling hidden threats of water disinfection: Toxicity evaluation and toxic products identification during diclofenac degradation[J]. Environmental Pollution,2024,345.

Pan，Ding.,Zhang，Cheng.,Wang，Cai Shan.,Zhang，Peng.,Jiao，Xin Yi.,...&Li，Li Ping.(2024).Unravelling hidden threats of water disinfection: Toxicity evaluation and toxic products identification during diclofenac degradation.Environmental Pollution,345.

Pan，Ding,et al."Unravelling hidden threats of water disinfection: Toxicity evaluation and toxic products identification during diclofenac degradation".Environmental Pollution 345(2024).