Humic Substances Enhance Chlorothalonil Phototransformation via Photoreduction and Energy Transfer

ABSTRACT: The photodegradation of chlorothalonil, a polychlorinated aromatic fungicide widely used in agriculture, was investigated under ultraviolet–visible irradiation in the presence and absence of different humic substances that significantly enhance the chlorothalonil phototransformation. On the basis of a kinetic model, an analytical study, the effect of scavengers, the chlorothalonil phosphorescence measurement, and varying irradiation conditions, it was possible to demonstrate that this accelerating effect is due to their capacity to reduce the chlorothalonil triplet state via H-donor reaction and to energy transfer from the triplet humic to ground state chlorothalonil. Energy transfer occurs at wavelengths below 450 nm and accounts for up to 30% of the reaction in deoxygenated medium upon irradiation with polychromatic light (300–450 nm). This process is more important with Elliott humic and fulvic acids and with humic acids extracted from natural carbonaceous material than with Nordic NOM and Pahokee peat humic acids. The obtained results are of high relevance to understanding the processes involved in chlorothalonil phototransformation and the photoreactivity of humic substances. Chlorothalonil is one of the rare molecules shown to react by energy transfer from excited humic substances

Sunlight-induced inactivation of human Wa and porcine OSU rotaviruses in the presence of exogenous photosensitizers

Human rotavirus Wa and porcine rotavirus OSU solutions were irradiated with simulated solar UV and visible light in the presence of different photosensitizers dissolved in buffered solutions. For human rotavirus, the exogenous effects were greater than the endogenous effects under irradiation with full spectrum and UVA and visible light at 25 C. For porcine rotavirus, the exogenous effects with UVA and visible light irradiation were only observed at high temperatures, >40 C. The results from dark experiments conducted at different temperatures suggest that porcine rotavirus has higher thermostability than human rotavirus. Concentrations of 3'-MAP excited triplet states of 1.8 fM and above resulted in significant human rotavirus inactivation. The measured excited triplet state concentrations of =0.45 fM produced by UVA and visible light irradiation of natural dissolved organic matter solutions were likely not directly responsible for rotavirus inactivation. Instead, the linear correlation for human rotavirus inactivation rate constant (kobs) with the phenol degradation rate constant (kexp) found in both 1 mM NaHCO3 and 1 mM phosphate-buffered solutions suggested that OH radical was a major reactive species for the exogenous inactivation of rotaviruses. Linear correlations between rotavirus kobs and specific UV254 nm absorbance of two river-dissolved organic matter and two effluent organic matter isolates indicated that organic matter aromaticity may help predict formation of radicals responsible for rotavirus inactivation. The results from this study also suggested that the differences in rotavirus strains should be considered when predicting solar inactivation of rotavirus in sunlit surface waters