Galaxolide (1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta[γ]-2-benzopyran, or HHCB) is a member of a family of polycyclic musks used as a fragrance in many consumer products. There have been numerous reports describing detection of galaxolide in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and surface waters. It is suspected to interfere with the MDR/MDX defenses of aquatic life, ultimately affecting their ability to protect themselves from other toxins present the environment. It is also suspected to be an endocrine disrupting compound and been labeled as a contaminant of emerging concern by the Environmental Protection Agency.<br/><br/>Although there is a fair amount of work published on studies of the fate of galaxolide in the environment and wastewater treatment streams, in our own work we have encountered a number of difficulties that have not been reported previously, to the best of our knowledge. In this presentation, we will describe the results of a number of lines of inquiry related to these peculiarities.<br/><br/>To the best of our knowledge, a highly pure analytical standard for galaxolide is not commercially available. We will describe results of different approaches to produce highly pure galaxolide on a semi-preparative scale. We also find that different species present in commercially available galaxolide materials exhibit very different detector responses when using liquid chromatography coupled with UV absorbance or electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Finally, we find that highly purified galaxolide is prone to rapid (timescale of minutes) transformation when exposed to water. Implications of these findings for future environmental fate studies of galaxolide will be discussed.

Instability and complexity of polycyclic musk galaxolide

2019 Spring National Meeting

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