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Pollution and fate of pollutants in polar region are important topics of investigation in the last several decades. We have analysed sediment samples from Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden, two sites from Arctic region, and detected a number of emerging contaminants (ECs) using high-resolution mass spectrometry connected to UPLC (LC-Q-ToF-MS). Out of the seven sampling sites selected, bisphenol S (BPS), an identified pollutant and plasticiser, was detected and quantified in three sediment samples from Kongsfjorden (≈ 0.2 ppm). Four major surfactants (decylbenzenesulphonic acid, undecylbenzenesulphonic acid, 2-dodecylbenzenesulphonic acid and tridecylbenzenesulphonic acid) were also identified. A possible metabolite of BPS (sulphur trioxide derivative of BPS) was identified in one of the samples. It is proposed that the presence of ECs is the result of human activities in the region for a long time. To the best our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification of BPS and surfactants in the Arctic region.

The interaction of bisphenol-S (BPS) with serum albumins using steady-state, synchronous, time-resolved, and circular dichroism spectroscopies has been investigated. The binding interactions have also been investigated in the case of bisphenol A (BPA). The fluorescence quenching pathways are different for both of these endocrine disrupting compounds. Steady-state and time-resolved studies reveal static quenching at lower concentrations of BPS and dynamic quenching at higher concentrations. CD results also maintained the concentration dependent variation with a complete distortion of α-helices at 10(-5) M BPS. Besides this, addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) results in the further unfolding of protein in the case of BPS, whereas time-resolved studies indicated refolding for BPA denatured human serum albumin (HSA). The entire study indicates an irreversible binding of BPS with HSA. Hence, these results reveal the possible involvement of BPS in the physiological pathway raising a health threat as already their presences in body fluids are known.