Abstract
This work studied the electrochemical degradation of alachlor and atrazine (alone and mixed with each other) using a filter-press cell, a dimensionally stable anode (DSA Ti/Ru0.3Ti0.7O2), initial pH 3.0, and temperature at 25 °C. The best operational conditions for alachlor (0.33 mmol L-1) degradation were obtained by a 32 factorial design, in which the factors/levels were: NaCl concentration (0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 mol L-1) and current density (10, 30, and 50 mA cm-2). Thus, 93.1% alachlor removal and 71.2% mineralization were achieved using 0.15 mol L-1 NaCl and 30 mA cm-2. In addition, the initial degradation products (DPs) of alachlor and atrazine were identified by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Acute and chronic ecotoxicities for three trophic levels (fishes, daphnids and green algae) and lipophilicity (log D, pH 7.4) of the DPs were also estimated using the ECOSAR 1.11 and ChemAxon Calculator software, respectively. The present study showed that the electrochemical degradation is an efficient method for removing the herbicides alachlor and atrazine from water and that the DPs formed have lower pollution potential than their original compounds.
Highlights
Alachlor (2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N(methoxymethyl)acetamide) is one of the most frequently used herbicides in weed control, early inhibiting their development
The present study showed that the electrochemical degradation is an efficient method for removing the herbicides alachlor and atrazine from water and that the degradation products (DPs) formed have lower pollution potential than their original compounds
One can observe that from 0.4 to 1.2 V vs. normal hydrogen electrode (NHE), no significant increase of the density current occurs; for potentials above 1.2 V, there was a fast increase in density current, characterized by the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and chlorine evolution (Eqs. 1 and 2)[27,29]
Summary
Alachlor (2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N(methoxymethyl)acetamide) is one of the most frequently used herbicides in weed control, early inhibiting their development. This compound belongs to the chloroacetamide class and it is widely used to protect corn, rice, soybean, peanut, and cotton crops[1]. Alachlor can be degraded by microorganisms present in soils. Both alachlor and its main metabolite, 2,6diethylaniline, are ubiquitous in the environment and cause serious ecological and physiological problems[2,3]. The contamination of water resources by alachlor occurs due to runoff and infiltration, causing it to be frequently detected in surface and groundwater samples[8,9,10]
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