Sources and environmental fate of halomethoxybenzenes

作者：Faqiang Zhan, Chubashini Shunthirasingham, Yuening Li, Jenny Oh, Ying Duan Lei, Amina Ben Chaaben, Abigaëlle Dalpé Castilloux, Zhe Lu, Kelsey Lee, Frank A. P. C. Gobas, Nick Alexandrou, Hayley Hung, Frank Wania · 发表于：Science Advances · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1126/sciadv.adi8082 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure、Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact、Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols

Halomethoxybenzenes are pervasive in the atmosphere at concentration levels that exceed, often by an order of magnitude, those of the persistent organic pollutants with which they share the attributes of persistence and potential for long-range transport, bioaccumulation, and toxic effects. Long ignored by environmental chemists because of their predominantly natural origin-namely, synthesis by terrestrial wood-rotting fungi, marine algae, and invertebrates-knowledge of their environmental pathways remains limited. Through measuring the spatial and seasonal variability of four halomethoxybenzenes in air and precipitation and performing complementary environmental fate simulations, we present evidence that these compounds undergo continental-scale transport in the atmosphere, which they enter largely by evaporation from water. This also applies to halomethoxybenzenes originating in terrestrial environments, such as drosophilin A methyl ether, which reach aquatic environments with runoff, possibly in the form of their phenolic precursors. Our findings contribute substantially to the comprehension of sources and fate of halomethoxybenzenes, illuminating their widespread atmospheric dispersal.