Insight into the photodegradation of methylisothiazolinone and benzoisothiazolinone in aquatic environments

Methylisothiazolinone (MIT) and Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) are two widely used non-oxidizing biocides of isothiazolinones. Their production and usage volume have sharply increased since the pandemic of COVID-19, inevitably leading to more release into water environment. However, their photochemical behaviors in water environment are still unclear. Therefore, this study investigated photodegradation properties of MIT and BIT in natural water under simulated sunlight. The results demonstrated that direct photolysis was mainly responsible for their photodegradation which occurred through their excited singlet states rather than triplet states. The quantum yields of MIT and BIT photodegradation were 11 - 13.6 × 10