Photolysis of atorvastatin in aquatic environment: Influencing factors, products, and pathways

Abstract

Atorvastatin (ATV), a second generation cholesterol-lowering drug, is detected frequently in natural water because of its extensive use and incomplete removal from wastewater. In this study, the photochemical behavior of ATV under simulated solar irradiation was systematically investigated in order to assess the potential of photolysis as its transformation pathway in aquatic environment. The quantum yield of ATV direct photolysis was determined to be 0.0041. Among various water components investigated, including pH, Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA), Fe3+, HCO3−, SO42− and NO3−, the major factors contributing to the indirect photolysis of ATV were SRFA and NO3−, and the co-existence of SRFA and NO3− showed no interaction in synthetic water containing the above water components. The results were further verified in natural water samples. Singlet oxygen (1O2) played dominant role in the indirect photolysis of ATV, and the contributions of 1O2 and ·OH to the photolysis of ATV in the solution with optimum combination of water components were calculated to be 67.14% and 0.66%, respectively. Nine phototransformation intermediates were identified by liquid chromatography - time-of-flight - mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS), and the degradation pathways were speculated as hydroxyl addition, pyrrole-ring open and debenzamide reactions. In addition, the evolution of products in the degradation process showed that the ring-opened product P416 and hydroxylation product P575 still remained at a certain level after two days of photodegradation, which may accumulate and cause additional ecological risks. This study provides significant information for understanding the risk and fate of ATV in aquatic environment.