Photo- and Sonic Degradation of Endosulfans( ${\alpha}$ , ${\beta}$ , and sulfate) in Aqueous Solution

Endosulfan-α endosulfan-β and endosulfan-sulfate, which are classified as pesticides, were degraded by use of UV energy and ultrasonic irradiation. The degradation residuals were analysed by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector and TOC (total oragnic carbon) analysis. The reactions were conducted in a quartz annular reactor equipped with a low pressure mercury multilamp (8Wx2) and a sonic generator. All the aqueous solutions were concentrated as 10 mg/L initially. Endosulfans were degraded each to result in 48.2% (α, 50.0% (β and 76.5% (sulfate) of removal efficiency by UV energy, and 66.9% (α, 55.8% (β and 72.7% (sulfate) by ultrasonic irradiation, respectively. In contrast to the results of the single-component solutions, degradation of the endosulfan-sulfate was greatly suppressed to result in the lowest degradation rate and removal efficiency in the three-component solutions. This finding suggests that there should be a reversible reaction with a substantially low equilibrium constant between endosulfan-αor -β and -sulfate in the coexistence of the three endosulfans. TOC data showed the endosulfans were decomposed by 20%~40% toward complete mineralization, producing a quantity of intermediates induced by the radical reactions. We found that all the decay reactions considered in this study nicely fell into pseudo first-order rate.