Photosensitized degradation of chlorothalonil and chlorpyrifos in the presence of Arctic derived dissolved organic matter

Abstract

Pesticides used at mid latitudes can accumulate in Arctic environments. Two commonly detected pesticides in Arctic lakes are chlorothalonil and chlorpyrifos. In surface waters, photolysis can play an important role in the attenuation of contaminants. The chemical characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) can further alter the extent of photolytic degradation of pollutants. To determine the relative effect of natural Arctic lake water and its DOM on the photolysis of chlorpyrifos, experiments were conducted under natural Arctic irradiation and under artificial irradiation. Similarly, the effect of Arctic DOM was investigated for chlorothalonil under artificial irradiation. The fulvic acid (FA) fraction of DOM was isolated from Fog 1 and from Toolik Lake in May and July. Lake waters significantly enhanced the photodegradation of chlorpyrifos under natural light by up to an order of magnitude. FA's significantly increased the degradation of chlorpyrifos (>2x) and chlorothalonil (>100x) under artificial irradiation relative to 18 MΩ-cm Water. Toolik Lake FA isolated in May, significantly enhanced the photolysis of both contaminants relative to the isolate collected in July. In the presence of iron, a lower ratio of carbohydrates and peptides to aromatics in the FA's was associated with faster degradation for chlorothalonil.