Abiotic degradation of four phthalic acid esters in aqueous phase under natural sunlight irradiation

Abiotic degradability of four phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in the aquatic phase was evaluated over the wide pH range (5-9). The PAE solutions in glass test tubes were placed in the dark and under natural sunlight irradiation for evaluating the degradation rate via hydrolysis and photolysis plus hydrolysis, respectively, at ambient temperature for 140 d from autumn to winter in Osaka, Japan. The efficiency of abiotic degradation of the PAEs with relatively short alkyl chain, butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) at neutral pH was significant less than that in the acidic or alkaline condition. Photolysis was considered to mainly contribute to total abiotic degradation at any pH. Neither hydrolysis nor photolysis of di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) proceeded significantly at any pH, especially hydrolysis at neutral pH was negligible. On the other hand, the degradation rate of di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) mainly catalyzed by photolysis was much higher compared with that of the other PAEs, and almost complete removal was observed during the experimental period at pH 5.0 and 9.0. As a whole, according to the half-life (t1/2) obtained in the experiments, the abiotic degradability of the PAEs was in the sequence, DINP (32-140 d) > DBP (50-360 d), BBP (58-480 d) > DEHP (390-1600 d) under sunlight irradiation (via photolysis plus hydrolysis). Although the abiotic degradation rate for BBP, DBP, and DEHP are much lower than their biodegradation rate reported, the photolysis rate for DINP is comparable to its biodegradation rate in the acidic or alkaline condition.