A Comparison of the Photolytic and Photocatalytic Degradation of Triclosan: Identification of Transformation Products and Ecotoxicity Evaluation

Triclosan (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol) is commonly used as an antibacterial agent in various industrial products and is often detected in wastewater effluent. Comparison was made for triclosan degradation by photolysis and TiO2 photocatalysis (under UV irradiation (125 W)) based on analysis of transformation products, together with ecotoxicity evaluation. The morphology of the TiO2 was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). Triclosan quantitation was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The o...