Identification and quantification of photodegradation products of disposed expanded polystyrene buoy used in aquaculture

Seulgidaun Lee; Md Badrul Alam; Sang-Han Lee; Maeng-Joon Jung; Won Joon Shim; Sunghwan Kim

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114998

Identification and quantification of photodegradation products of disposed expanded polystyrene buoy used in aquaculture

Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Jul:192:114998. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114998. Epub 2023 May 6.

Authors

Seulgidaun Lee¹, Md Badrul Alam², Sang-Han Lee², Maeng-Joon Jung³, Won Joon Shim⁴, Sunghwan Kim⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea; Bio-Chemical Analysis Team, Center for Research Equipment, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju 28119, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea; Food and Bio-Industry Research Institute, Inner Beauty/Antiaging Center, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Ecological Risk Research Department, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Geoje 53201, Republic of Korea; Department of Ocean Science, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: wjshim@kiost.ac.kr.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea; Mass Spectrometry Converging Research Center and Green-Nano Materials Research Center, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: sunghwank@knu.ac.kr.

PMID: 37156125
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114998

Abstract

This study investigated the chemicals extracted from an EPS buoy used in aquaculture, which were subsequently collected from a recycling center. It was observed that the chemicals generated upon photodegradation make disposed buoys more toxic. Analysis of the extracted chemicals revealed the presence of 37 compounds, with four compounds quantitatively determined. Further analysis showed that the quantity of compounds dissolved in seawater was significantly higher than the amount remaining on the buoy surface. Based on the assumption that the buoy was exposed to sunlight for a year, it was estimated that 14.44 mg of the four compounds dissolved into the ocean. Given that South Korea used over 7 million EPS buoys, photodegraded EPS buoys are expected to represent a significant source of potentially hazardous chemicals.

Keywords: Disposed buoy; Expanded polystyrene; Photodegradation; Toxicity.

MeSH terms

Aquaculture
Photolysis
Polystyrenes* / analysis
Republic of Korea
Seawater* / chemistry

Substances

Polystyrenes