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Degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) by vacuum ultraviolet process: influencing factors, oxidation products, and toxicity assessment

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Abstract

The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) process, which can directly produce hydroxyl radical from water, is considered to be a promising oxidation process in degrading contaminants of emerging concern, because of no need for extra reagents. In this study, the influencing factors and mechanism for degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) by the VUV process were investigated. The effects of irradiation intensity, inorganic anions, natural organic matter (NOM), and H2O2 dosage on the performance of VUV process were evaluated. The results showed that DEP could be more efficiently degraded by the VUV process compared with ultraviolet (UV)-254-nm irradiation. The presence of HCO3−, NO3− and NOM in the aqueous solutions inhibited the degradation of DEP to a different degree, mainly by competing hydroxyl radicals (HO•) with DEP. Degradation rate and removal efficiency of DEP by VUV process significantly enhanced with the addition of H2O2, while excess H2O2 dosage could inhibit the DEP degradation. Moreover, based on the identified seven oxidation byproducts and their time-dependent evolution profiles, a possible pathway for DEP degradation during the VUV process was proposed. Finally, the ecotoxicity of DEP and its oxidation byproducts reduced overall according to the calculated results from Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) program. The electrical energy per order (EE/O) was also assessed to analysis the energy cost of the DEP degradation in the VUV process. Our work showed the VUV process could be an alternative and environmental friendly technology for removing contaminants in water.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (51508174), the Fund of State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse (PCRRF17023), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2018JJ3059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Building Safety and Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Education, Department of Water Engineering and Science, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Yangtao Wu, Lin Deng, Lingjun Bu, Zhou Shi & Shiqing Zhou

  2. Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (ChEE), University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0012, USA

    Lingjun Bu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Shumin Zhu

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  1. Yangtao Wu
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  2. Lin Deng
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  3. Lingjun Bu
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  4. Shumin Zhu
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  5. Zhou Shi
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  6. Shiqing Zhou
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Correspondence to Lin Deng or Shiqing Zhou.

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Responsible editor: Vítor Pais Vilar

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Wu, Y., Deng, L., Bu, L. et al. Degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) by vacuum ultraviolet process: influencing factors, oxidation products, and toxicity assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 5435–5444 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3914-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3914-x

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