Synthetic Musks in Different Water Matrices

Abstract

Nitro musks and polycyclic musks are used as synthetic musk compounds in almost all scented consumer products, such as perfumes, cosmetics, and certain cleaning agents. After application they are dumped via waste water treatment plants into the aquatic environment. In this chapter all data so far published on synthetic musks in surface, waste, and drinking water are presented and discussed. Furthermore, a brief description is given of special aspects of the analysis of nitro and polycyclic musks in water matrices.

The list of contaminants in all sorts of water is topped by the polycyclic musk compounds HHCB and AHTN, which are present in the order of magnitude of micrograms per liter and whose concentrations in all samples analyzed exceeded those of the nitro musks musk xylene and musk ketone. The highest concentrations of synthetic musks were found in waste water and surface water near the tributaries of sewage treatment plants. The published data suggest an ubiquitous distribution of these chemicals in the aquatic environment.