Polycylic aromatic musk compounds in sewage treatment plant effluents of Canada and Sweden

1 Polycylic aromatic musk compounds in sewage treatment plant effluents of Canada and Sweden  

Polycyclic musk fragrances (PMF) are the second of two major classes of synthetic musks, after nitro musks. They are widely used in an array of fragrances for cosmetics and other personal and household care products and were commercially introduced in the 1950s (Daughton and Temes, 1999). Worldwide, more than 5000 tons per year of synthetic musks are produced recently (Gebauer and Bouter, 1997). In Europe, the usage rate of the two most abundant compounds HHCB and AHTN exceeded 2000 tons yr 1 (Balk Ford, 1999a). 

Balk and Ford (1999a) observed that HHCB and AHTN were metabolised and excreted with a turnover rate of one third per day by bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). The calculated lifetimes of HHCB and other fragrance materials in the atmosphere are a few hours or less due to daytime reaction with the OH radical (for a OH radical concentration of 2.0 x 106 molecule cm 3) (Aschmann et al., 2001). These results indicate that HHCB and AHTN are altered by chemical and biological degradation processes after their release into the environment. 

Results of toxicity tests have revealed that direct exposure to HHCB and AHTN in fragrances or indirect exposure in the environment poses no significant risk to human health (Ford, 1998). It is nevertheless alarming that HHCB and AHTN in alcoholic solutions enter the human body via diffusion through the skin (Ford et al., 1999). Because of their lipophilicity, polycyclic musks are stored in the body and have been detected in human fat tissues and in human milk samples (Eschke et al., 

1995b). Possible pheromone-like and hormone-like interactions are expected by Kallenbom et al. (1999) and should not be neglected while estimating the ecotoxicological risk of the PMF. 

---