Distribution properties of ultraviolet absorbents in different species of biodegradable plastics

Abstract

Ultraviolet absorbents (UVAs) in the environment have been of increasing concern because of their potential toxicity. However, data on UVAs in the biodegradable plastics are still limited. In this work, we determined the concentrations of 13 UVAs in 6 different types of biodegradable plastic products from Beijing, China, by an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and found the total concentrations in the range of 37.21–1,138,526 ng g⁻¹. These target UVAs, BP (benzophenone), BP-3, BP-12, UV-328, UV-234, UV-326, UV-329, UV-360 and UV-P are prevalent in the plastic bags, garbage bags, food packaging bags, plastic lunch boxes and tableware, product packing bags and mulch films, except for BP-1, UV-320, UV-327 and UV-PS. This finding showed that the total concentrations of the 13 UVAs in biodegradable mulch films (mean: 1,138,527 ng g⁻¹) were several orders of magnitude higher than those in the other 5 categories of samples (mean: 37.21–186.9 ng g⁻¹). And the UV-328 and BP-1 were the most important components of UVAs in the biodegradable mulch films, with the levels ranging of 726,568–1,062,687 ng g⁻¹ and 317,470–506,178 ng g⁻¹, respectively. As the majority of UVAs were detected in biodegradable plastics, the potential risk of UVAs exposure may exist in the environment with the large-scale use of biodegradable plastics.