Joint Usage / Research Center “Leading Academia in Marine andEnvironment Pollution Research (LaMer)”
Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University
Annual Report - 2019
Survey, Selection and Initiation of the Analyses of Emerging ChemicalContaminants (ECCs) of Environment Concern: PCDDs/Fs, PBDEs,
PPCPs, Plasticizers etc. in the Indian Samples Archived in the es-Bank ofEhime University, Japan.

Submitted byDr. R. Babu RajendranProfessor
Department of Environmental Biotechnology
School of Environmental Sciences
Bharathidasasn University
Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, India

Survey, Selection and Initiation of the Analyses of Emerging Chemical
Contaminants (ECCs) of Environment Concern: PCDDs/Fs, PBDEs,PPCPs, Plasticizers etc. in the Indian Samples Archived in the es-Bank ofEhime University, Japan.
Aim
Obtaining data on the historic trends of various Emerging Chemicals through archived
specimens in es-Bank, Ehime University, Japan
Introduction
Regular usage and continuous release of synthetic chemical compounds lead to ubiquitouscontamination in all the spheres of the planet earth. In recent years, they have been
increasingly detected in environmental and human samples at trace levels ranging fromnanograms (ng) to several micrograms (μg). Chemical compounds that are not currently
regulated and cause undesirable impact on human or ecological health are regarded as
emerging contaminants (ECs). They include antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, pharmaceuticaland personal care products, disinfection by-products, plasticizers, preservatives,antimicrobials, synthetic fragrances, UV stablilizers as well as their degradation products(Ramaswamy, 2015). Further, es-Bank of Ehime university is housed with large number offor more than 35 years, from 1983 to 2018. These samples were analyzed for variouschemicals of persistent nature like HCHs, DDTs, PCBs, CHLs, HCB, PCDDs/Fs, PBDEs,HBCDs, PAHs, PPCPs, heavy metals, etc. and were published in high ranking scientificjournals and presented in international meetings. All these efforts should continue to analyze
more samples and to get a holistic picture of the pollution by emerging chemicals and tocompare at a global scale.

The numbers of Indian samples analyzed were only limited with respect to conventional
pollutants like pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PCDDs/Fs, Dioxins etc. and a considerablepercentage of the samples are stocked in the es-Bank unutilized and particularly for Emerging
Chemical Contaminants (ECCs) of endocrine disrupting potential in non target organisms. If
those samples are analyzed for emerging chemicals the data can provide a complete history of
the usage of these chemicals from the year 1983 (first sampling in India by EhimeUniversity) to till date.

Emerging Chemical Contaminants
Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs)
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are usually described as “any product used bypublic for personal well-being or cosmetic purposes or used by farming industry to improve
the growth or health of livestock.”Phthalate Plasticizers
Plasticizer is a polymer additive that serves to increase the polymers’ flexibility, elongation orease of processing. Plasticizers are used in manufacturing of plastics, food packaging, vinyl
flooring and wall covering and PVCs. Further, they are also used in manufacturing ofpersonal care products, such as nail polish, hair sprays, aftershave lotions, soaps, shampoos,
perfumes and other fragrance preparations (Net et al., 2015).

Phenolic Compounds
Wastewaters from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities are the main source forPhenolic compounds in the environment. Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to manufacture
polycarbonate plastics. Nonylphenol (NP) and octyl phenol (OP) are alkylphenol ethoxylates
bearing similar structures are the precursors in the manufacture of non-ionic surfactants usedin detergents, emulsifiers, wetting agents, dispersants or solubilizers (Selvaraj et al., 2014).

Surfactants
The synthetic detergents (or surfactants) are the most common group of chemical compounds
that are increasingly being used in modern civilization. Surfactants are common contaminantsof aquatic environments due to their large consumption in all types of washing and cleaning
operations (Seth et al., 2013).

Preservatives
Parabens are a group of p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters, with alkyl substituents ranging frommethyl to butyl or benzyl groups. They are extensively used as preservatives and bactericides
in many personal care products, as well as in food and pharmaceutical products, textile dyes
and paints. The main sources of parabens for the aquatic environment are STP effluents, andwastewaters from hospitals and industries (like textile manufactures, tanneries, etc.)(Ramaswamy et al., 2011).

Antimicrobials
Compounds like Triclosan (TCS) and Triclocarban (TCC) are broad-spectrum antibacterial
agents incorporated in a wide variety of household and personal care products such as handsoap, toothpaste, and deodorants but also in other consumer products (e.g., toys,undergarments and cutting boards among other things).

Sunscreens / UV Filters
Benzotriazole ultraviolet stabilizers are applied to protect from ultraviolet radiation damage
in a variety of daily-use and industrial products such as car accessories, film, shoes, building
materials, antifogging agents owing to their absorption ability in the full spectrum of UV-A
(320-400 nm) and UV-B (280-320 nm) light. The environmental contamination bybenzotriazole ultraviolet stabilizers (BUVSs) has received considerable attention due to theirlong-term and widespread usage in various consumer and industrial products (Vimalkumar etal., 2018).
Benzotriazoles
Benzotriazoles (BTs) is a group of heterocyclic compounds which have been widely applied
in industrial activities and domestic life mainly as corrosive inhibitors. BTs have beenubiquitously detected in receiving environments and bring potential toxicity to no-target
organisms. In 2008, BTs were classified as emerging organic pollutants (EPs) by the UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency (Richardson et al., 2008).
For performing all these, all the Indian samples stored at es-Bank should be checked (some ofthem might be unusable even beyond storage). Selected samples should be processed foranalysis. While the Japanese collaborating scientists take care of the furtherance of theanalytical work, both the Indian scientists will take care of the guidance via online and during
their future visits to Ehime University, if any.
Result:For doing all the above, two Indian scientists (Prof. R. Babu Rajendran and Prof. AnnamalaiSubramanian) visited CMES, Ehime University and carried the following works from 22-092019 to 29-09-2019.
1. Collated the published work on Indian samples by Ehime University, Japan by sitting in
the initial days of visit in the libraries of CMES and Ehime University.
2. Gathered some of the unpublished data on Indian samples that are available in seminarproceedings, annual progress report seminars, and theses of the students who haveobtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. from CMES, Ehime University, Japan. As the data available
is voluminous further such work is necessary.
3. Decided on what the emerging chemicals are to be carried out based on existing
literature and the suitable samples that can be utilized for further research and thechemicals (mentioned earlier) that can be decided.
4. Checked the information on Indian samples available in es-Bank using thecomputerized list and other available documents (e.g. field sampling check list).
5. Physically checked and short-listed the samples to find out their suitability for analyzing
them with the help of Mr. Ogawa, In-charge, es-Bank.
6. As the annual meeting 2018-19 of CMES was being held during our visit, furtherdiscussion and selection of students for further processing of the samples could not bedone during our visit.
7. We found that major percentage of both animate and inanimate samples from India arein good condition, suitable for chemical analyses of various emerging chemicals. In ouropinion nearly about 4000 well suited samples are available (Annexure-I) for usage ofquantifying the historic data of many emerging chemicals.

Expected outcome:
1. Usage of suitable samples collected from India for the past four decades and stockedin the es-Bank of CMES, Ehime University
2. Gain wider knowledge on the history of usage and pollution by targeted emerging
chemicals
3. Dissemination of the obtained data to the scientific community via publications andpresentation in international for a.

Perspectives in future:
Analysing and gaining data from the above samples will lead to supply of valuable historic
data on emerging chemicals for more than past four decades. Availability of such organised
samples are not available in any of the specimen banks of the world. Publishing andpresenting data obtained from these samples will certainly bring fame to the es-Bank ofEhime University, JapanSo, we suggest that funds may be made available by applying to various funding agencies forthe analyses of these valuable samples. Long term/short term scholarships may also be madeavailable for two students from Bharathidasan University, India and two from Ehime
University, Japan. These scholars may be entrusted with the work of different emerging
chemicals from different groups of animals. The data obtained can be used to produce
M.Sc./Ph.D. thesis of those students, published in journals and also presented in scientificfora. This will certainly raise the fame of es-Bank, CMES to new heights in International
scientific arena.
List of samples that can be used: Dust, water, Soil/sediment, Terrestrial and Marine Birds,Marine Mammals, Human samples etc.
(See Annexure)

Future Publications:
The data already available on India in the CMES annual seminar proceedings, M.Sc. andPh.D. Theses of CMES together with the data to be obtained from the future work by Indianand Japanese students will be processed and published.

Photos showing the physical verification of archived specimens at es-bank of CMES

References
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