Transformation of Environmental Contaminants: Uncovering Reaction Mechanisms, Identifying Novel Products, and Understanding Environmental Implications

作者：Carrie A. McDonough, Shira Joudan, Natalia Quinete, Xiaomeng Wang · 发表于：Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/etc.5994 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact、Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research、Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols

Thousands of synthetic substances are released into the environment through industrial processes, waste disposal, product usage, and other human activities, presenting a serious challenge for environmental risk assessors (Persson et al., 2022). Chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) or persistent, mobile, and toxic (PMT) are often prioritized as potential contaminants of concern (Arp & Hale, 2019). However, some chemicals are not persistent outright, but rather transform in the environment or in biota with poorly understood implications for PBT/PMT (Chen et al., 2015; Cwiertny et al., 2014; Zahn et al., 2024). The potential for chemicals to transform into unknown products that are similarly or more toxic or persistent than the parent is often not considered in environmental risk assessment. In many cases, the disappearance of a chemical is taken to mean that risks associated with the parent substance have been attenuated, with no consideration of the potential for harmful transformation products. Predicting chemical reactivity, describing transformation reactions, and identifying transformation products are all essential to truly understand risks posed by environmental contaminants. Many previous studies have demonstrated the formation of unexpected transformation products in indoor and outdoor environments and in engineered systems (e.g., wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities). These products are typically overlooked because they are not...