Synthetic Musks (SMs) are widely used as fragrance ingredients in various personal care products and consumer goods, due to their fragrance smell similar to natural musk. Given the extensive use and large amount of consumption as well as incomplete disposal in conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), SMs are discharged into aquatic environment and frequently detected in aquatic organisms, air and even human milk, blood, and adipose tissues, resulting in the potential adverse effects on ecological environment and human health. Therefore, SMs became an important kind of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs). In this study, the current research progress on the environmental pollution, transformation mechanisms, environmental fate and health effect of SMs are reviewed in detail. Although the conclusion that the aquatic toxicity and human estrogenic effects are found to be increased during the transformation, the transformation mechanisms of SMs in different environmental matrix as well as organisms are still unclear, even that the toxicity of transformation/metabolism products is rarely attempted.The relationship between exposure mode of SMs and damage mechanism of human health is still unclear. In addition, the relative research of the effect on ecological environments and human health of emerging SMs such as macrocyclic musk and alicyclic musk is also deserved to be considered.
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction of synthetic musk
1.2 Usage and human exposure
2 Environmental pollution
2.1 Synthetic musk in atmosphere and indoor dust
2.2 Synthetic musk in aquatic environment
2.3 Synthetic musk in organism
3 The transformation process and mechanism
3.1 Biodegradation
3.2 Photochemical degradation
3.3 Advanced oxidation degradation
4 Adverse effects on organisms
5 Adverse effects on human health
6 Conclusion and outlook