Effect of microplastics on the photodegradation of high-consumption drugs under simulated sunlight: The critical role of aging and reactive oxygen species

IF 4.1 3区化学 Q2 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-chemistry Pub Date : 2025-05-02 DOI:10.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.116463

Dimitrios Kalaronis , Eleni Evgenidou , George Z. Kyzas , Aikaterini Teknetzi , George Vourlias , Dimitrios N. Bikiaris , Dimitra A. Lambropoulou

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Abstract

The main aim of this study was to examine the effect of polypropylene (PP), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) microplastics (MPs) on the photolytic degradation of a mixture of seven commonly used pharmaceuticals under simulated solar irradiation (SSL). The target mixture included four common antibiotics (metronidazole, trimethoprim, indomethacin, isoniazid), two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac, ketoprofen), and one antihypertensive drug (valsartan). The selected MPs were aged using three different procedures: (i) SSL light, (ii) UV/H₂O₂, and (iii) Fenton reagent. The effect of MPs mass concentration was examined using only the pristine MPs, while the aging effect was evaluated for the three different aged MPs for each polymer type. The results demonstrated that the presence of MPs generally accelerates the photolytic degradation of the drugs, and increasing their concentration further enhances the reaction rate. Aging of the MPs also appeared to enhance the photodegradation of the selected pharmaceuticals. Among the various aging processes applied, UV/H₂O₂ had the greatest impact on surface alteration of the MPs and consequently, UV/H₂O₂-aged PET MPs exhibited the highest influence on the photolytic degradation of the drugs. To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism behind the photolytic degradation of the examined pharmaceuticals, a systematic characterization of pristine and aged MPs was conducted using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) techniques, which detected the formation of oxygen containing groups on the MPs’ surfaces. Finally, scavenger experiments were also conducted to explore the formation and role of reactive oxygen species (singlet oxygen, superoxide anions, and hydroxyl radicals) in the degradation of the target compounds.

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微塑料对模拟阳光下高耗药物光降解的影响：老化和活性氧的关键作用

本研究的主要目的是研究聚丙烯（PP）、聚对苯二甲酸乙酯（PET）和聚乳酸（PLA）微塑料（MPs）在模拟太阳辐照（SSL）下对七种常用药物混合物光解降解的影响。目标混合物包括4种常用抗生素（甲硝唑、甲氧苄啶、吲哚美辛、异烟肼）、2种非甾体抗炎药（双氯芬酸、酮洛芬）和1种降压药（缬沙坦）。选择的MPs使用三种不同的方法老化：(i) SSL光，（ii） UV/H2O2和（iii） Fenton试剂。仅使用原始MPs考察了MPs质量浓度的影响，同时对每种聚合物类型的三种不同老化MPs进行了老化效果评估。结果表明，MPs的存在普遍加速了药物的光解降解，增加其浓度进一步提高了反应速率。MPs的老化似乎也增强了所选药物的光降解。在应用的各种老化过程中，UV/H2O2对MPs的表面改变影响最大，因此，UV/H2O2老化的PET MPs对药物的光解降解影响最大。为了更深入地了解所检测药物光解降解背后的机制，使用傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、x射线光电子能谱（XPS）和扫描电子显微镜-能量色散x射线能谱（SEM-EDX）技术对原始和老化的MPs进行了系统表征，检测了MPs表面上含氧基团的形成。最后，通过清道夫实验探讨了活性氧（单线态氧、超氧阴离子和羟基自由基）在降解目标化合物中的形成和作用。

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来源期刊

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-chemistry 化学-物理化学

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

7.00%

发文量

580

审稿时长

48 days

期刊介绍： JPPA publishes the results of fundamental studies on all aspects of chemical phenomena induced by interactions between light and molecules/matter of all kinds. All systems capable of being described at the molecular or integrated multimolecular level are appropriate for the journal. This includes all molecular chemical species as well as biomolecular, supramolecular, polymer and other macromolecular systems, as well as solid state photochemistry. In addition, the journal publishes studies of semiconductor and other photoactive organic and inorganic materials, photocatalysis (organic, inorganic, supramolecular and superconductor). The scope includes condensed and gas phase photochemistry, as well as synchrotron radiation chemistry. A broad range of processes and techniques in photochemistry are covered such as light induced energy, electron and proton transfer; nonlinear photochemical behavior; mechanistic investigation of photochemical reactions and identification of the products of photochemical reactions; quantum yield determinations and measurements of rate constants for primary and secondary photochemical processes; steady-state and time-resolved emission, ultrafast spectroscopic methods, single molecule spectroscopy, time resolved X-ray diffraction, luminescence microscopy, and scattering spectroscopy applied to photochemistry. Papers in emerging and applied areas such as luminescent sensors, electroluminescence, solar energy conversion, atmospheric photochemistry, environmental remediation, and related photocatalytic chemistry are also welcome.