Possibility of Reductive Deactivation of S-Triazines and Parent Compounds on Waters and Sediments

Electrochemistry can be a valuable instrument to preserve the aquatic environment, first, by elucidating the oxidation-reduction mechanisms of substances having toxicological potential at laboratory scale; second, by aiding through extrapolation to comprise the evolution and fate in the environment of these pollutants and, finally, by establishing the basis of some electrochemical deactivation processes at industrial scale. In this way, this paper deals on studies of a type of highly pollutant substances for the aquatic media such as the S-triazines. The first part of the paper is focused to show the electrochemical reduction behavior of some S-triazines (eleven compounds have been studied). Later, the probable consequences at natural scale of these electroreductive processes are evaluated. Thus, the electrochemical reduction of diluted solutions of s-triazine herbicides and parent compounds takes place at potentials of −0.90 to −1.20 V, at very acidic pH values. The electroreduction products generated in all cases have loss the aromaticity and, depending on the compound, the chlorine atom or the –SCH3 group. So, the resulting molecules present lower toxicity than the original compounds. For this reason, the electroreductive way can be an efficient option for the detoxification of S-triazine polluted waters. On the other hand, the natural deactivation of the s-triazines present in natural waters, in addition to the conventional photooxidative route taking place in well illuminated and oxygenated waters, could take place through the reductive process when the waters are essentially anoxic, acidic, and rich in suspended materials. This natural reduction, moreover, could favour the later oxidation or metabolization of the byproducts emanating of the original plaguicides. Finally, the reduction of S-triazines, both forced (industrial water depuration via electrochemical reduction) and no forced (natural aquatic media) requires more negative redox potentials, that is, more reductive environments as the molecules become more complex.