Photodegradation of selected phthalates on mural painting surfaces under UV light irradiation

The esters of phthalic acid are considered as hazardous pollutants due to their mutagenicity, carcinogenicity and are also classified as endocrine disruptor chemicals. Several compounds of this class of substances for decades, and probably even now, were used as softeners in water-based synthetic paintings. Surfaces and structures, such as house walls painted with phthalates based paintings, can be a concern to construction workers engaged in demolition, restore and paint removal activities if they are not protected from hazardous dust inhalation. In this paper we report the results of an investigation about phthalate ester degradation by direct UV irradiation at 254 nm. The results of kinetic parameters for PAE photodegradation are reported and it shows that k values for the single PAEs ranged from 0.221 to 0.737 h(-1). Moreover, the results indicate that photolysis is a successful way to remediate PEAs contaminated on mural painting. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.