Degradation of tributyltin in San Diego Bay, California, waters

Several experiments were carried out to determine the degradation rate of tributyltin (TBT) in microcosms containing harbor water. Unlabeled or 14C-labeled tributyltin was added to water samples collected from two stations in San Diego Bay, CA. Degradation rates were determined by calculating the rate of loss of the added parent TBT compound. Calculated half-lives in water collected from a yacht harbor (ambient concentration was 0.5 μg of TBT/L) were 6 and 7 days for light and dark treatments, respectively. Half-lives from a clean-water site (< 0.03 μg of TBT/L) were 9 and 19 days for light and dark treatments, respectively. The principal degradation product in all experiments was dibutyltin with lesser amounts of monobutyltin. Complete mineralization, measured by the formation of 14CO2, proceeded slowly with a half-life of 50-75 days. Tributyltin at high concentrations (744 μg/L) was not degraded in sunlight, indicating that photolysis was not taking place and that biological degradation was the primary degradative process for TBT at low ambient concentrations