Retene is widely present in modern and ancient sediments, and can be extracted from fir forest soils, humus coal, continental petroleum source rocks, and deep-sea sediments. Retene can be toxic when exposed to light, and this light-induced toxicity can have lethal and sublethal effects on aquatic organisms. Retene can be used as a model compound to study the interaction between environmental pollutants and ultraviolet rays[1][2].
