Overview of new pollutant classes in water including industry use and structural examples
Image: AG Bräutigam
New pollutants in water
Emerging pollutants or anthropogenic micropollutants in the water cycle are increasingly attracting scientific and social interest. The compounds present in concentrations ranging from a few ng per liter to µg per liter in water include, for example, residues of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, ingredients of personal care products or industrial chemicals. The detection and quantification of these takes place in a very complex matrix and is therefore challenging. The determination of transformation products formed during oxidative/reductive treatment processes is part of our research. The composition and temporal evolution of the concentrations of these compounds is of importance for ecotoxicity as well as for the design of appropriate processes. Knowledge of the degradation mechanisms and kinetics is relevant for this.
In addition to dissolved water pollutants, undissolved organic pollutants such as microplastics are also relevant. Microplastics are introduced directly (primary microplastics) or indirectly (secondary microplastics) into the water cycle. Secondary microplastics are formed, for example, by various degradation mechanisms of macroscopic plastic (also in nature - e.g. photochemical aging). Microplastic includes plastic particles of a size < 5 mm. The influence of different aging effects (photochemical, mechanical) on the sorption behavior of the (aged) polymers with respect to different micropollutants (polarity, size) as well as the release of different components of the polymers is part of the investigations of our research group.
