ABSTRACT
Photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceuticals (hydrocortisone, estradiol, and verapamil) and personal care product additives (parabens-methyl, ethyl, and propyl derivatives) was investigated in the homogeneous phase (with ferric ions as the catalyst) and on TiO2. Ferric ions in concentrations corresponding to concentrations in natural water bodies were shown to be a significant accelerator of the degradation in homogeneous reaction mixtures. In heterogeneous photocatalytic reactions on TiO2, lower reaction rates, but mineralisation to higher extents, were observed.
Subject(s)
Pharmaceutical Preparations/chemistry , Photolysis/radiation effects , Ultraviolet Rays , Catalysis , Estradiol/chemistry , Hydrocortisone/chemistry , Parabens/chemistry , Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet , Titanium/chemistry , Verapamil/chemistryABSTRACT
Fluorophore types and their photochemical stability have been tested in two samples of humic acids (HA) and four types of fulvic acids (FA) extracted from upper soil horizons (O and A horizons) in Norway spruce forest mountain ecosystems. Only one type of fluorophore occurred in all samples, with an excitation maximum at 310 nm for both HA and FA samples and emission maxima between 420-435 and 440-450 for HA and FA, respectively. HA weak native fluorescence increased significantly during irradiation in the first 12 h. Fluorophores in FA were uniformly degraded from the beginning of irradiation. Addition of metal (aluminium or ferric) ions did not affect the positions of fluorescence maxima in any of the studied samples; mild effects on fluorescence intensities were observed.
Subject(s)
Aluminum/chemistry , Benzopyrans/chemistry , Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry , Humic Substances/analysis , Iron/chemistry , Ultraviolet Rays , IonsABSTRACT
Cobinding of bilirubin and of haeme to human serum albumin was investigated by means of difference absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Two specific sites for bilirubin and two for haeme binding occur on the albumin molecule. The primary binding site for bilirubin (Ka = 2.5 microM-1) is different from the primary heame binding site (Ka = 50 microM-1; Beaven et al., Eur J. Biochem. 41, 539-546, 1974), the former, however, might be identical with the secondary center for haeme binding. Similarly, the primary haeme binding center might be identical with the secondary bilirubin binding site.
