Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a common toxic plastic additive that is found ubiquitously in ocean water, and more recently in aerosols over both terrestrial and marine environments across the globe. While sea spray aerosol constitutes the largest fraction of aerosol mass in the atmosphere and BPA is longer lived in ocean water, the emission, chemical lifetime and transformations of BPA in the aerosol phase in marine environments have not previously been studied. In this work, we examine the oxidative and photosensitized degradation kinetics and subsequent chemical transformations of aerosolized BPA in pure component lab-generated aerosol and aerosol mixed with marine chromophoric dissolved organic material (m-cDOM). We measure the reactive uptake coefficients of OH and O3 and the degradation rates of BPA in the presence of OH, O3, and solar-simulated light in a moveable injector aerosol flow tube reactor coupled to an extractive electrospray ionization high-resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (EESI-HR-ToF-CIMS). Previous studies suggest BPA degradation is enhanced in the presence of a photosensitizer in bulk freshwater. Here, we measure the photosensitized degradation rate of BPA in the aerosol phase as a function of m-cDOM concentration in solution and light intensity in the flow reactor. Additional analysis of O3 uptake coefficients as a function of aerosol pH will be discussed, as the lower pH of atmospheric aerosol is expected to enhance acid-catalyzed oligomerization of BPA. Long-range transport of plastics in oceans and air can affect the population on a global scale. This work ultimately contributes to a growing understanding of the processes affecting the emission and degradation of toxic plastic additives in the environment and specifically will help guide future atmospheric risk assessment models of BPA.

Degradation of the toxic plastic additive, bisphenol-A, in the aerosol phase through heterogeneous and multiphase OH, O3, and photosensitized reactions

2019 Fall National Meeting

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