Degradability of Treated Ethion Insecticide by TiO2 Photocatalysis

Ethion, an insecticide, is widely used with fruit and vegetable crops. This research studied the reduction and oxidative degradation of standard ethion by TiO2 photocatalysis. A standard ethion solution (1 mg L(-1)) was treated with different concentrations of TiO2 powder (5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 mg mL(-1)) for 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 min. The amount of ethion residue was detected by gas chromatography with flame photometric detection (GC-FPD) and the concentration of anions produced as major degradation products was determined by Ion Chromatography (IC). The TiO2 photocatalysis efficiently reduced ethion concentrations, with the highest degradation rate occurring within the first 15 min of reaction. The reaction produced sulphate and phosphate anions. The TiO2photocatalysis reduced 1 mg L(-1) ethion to 0.18 mg L(-1) when treated with 60 mg mL(-1) TiO2 powder for 60 min. The lethal concentration (LC50) of standard ethion was also estimated and compared to the treated ethion. All treatments, especially 60 mg mL(-1) TiO2 powder, markedly detoxified ethion, as tested with brine shrimp (Artemia salina L.), with an LC50 value of 765.8 mg mL(-1), compared to the control of 1.01 mg mL(-1).