Abstract
Sulfate radical (\({\text{SO}}_{4}^{ \cdot - }\))-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) are promising in situ chemical oxidation technologies that received increasing interest recently. The application of SR-AOPs for decontamination may, however, generate unexpected toxic by-products. This contribution reports that \({\text{SO}}_{4}^{ \cdot - }\) can incorporate nitrite (NO2−) nitrogen into chlorophenols, resulting in the formation of chloronitrophenols which pose greater environmental concerns. Nitrogen dioxide radical (\({\text{NO}}_{2}^{ \cdot }\)) and phenoxy radical are important precursors responsible for the formation of chloronitrophenols. High concentrations of NO2− inhibited the transformation of chlorophenol but promoted the formation of chloronitrophenol. This study underscores a need for caution in the application of SR-AOPs in the presence of NO2−, because chloronitrophenols can be more genotoxic and mutagenic than chlorophenols.
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The authors greatly appreciate the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21607077).
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Ji, Y., Yang, Y., Wang, L. et al. Sulfate radical-induced incorporation of NO2 group into chlorophenols. Environ Chem Lett 17, 1111–1116 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-00836-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-00836-y