17α-Ethinylestradiol and 17β-estradiol removal from a secondary urban wastewater using an RBC treatment system

Abstract

The presence of micropollutants that include endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDC) in aquatic environments is currently one of the most relevant aspects of water quality due to their adverse effects on aquatic organisms and human health. From the several categories of EDC, 17β-estradiol (E2) is a natural hormone, which is prevalent in vertebrates, associated with the female reproductive system and maintenance of the sexual characters. 17α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a synthetic hormone produced from the natural hormone E2 and is an essential component of oral contraceptives. These compounds are susceptible to bioconcentration and have high potential to bioaccumulation. Wastewater treatment plants are the main point source of E2 and EE2 into aquatic environments, but conventional wastewater treatment systems are not specifically designed for steroid removal. To overcome this problem, biological tertiary treatment may be a solution for the removal of emergent pollutants such as E2 and EE2. The main purpose of the present study is to provide a solution based on the optimization of a rotating biological contactor system to remove estrogens, specifically E2 and EE2, and to quantify their removal efficiency on different matrices, namely real wastewater and different synthetic wastewaters. All assays presented viable removal efficiencies for compound E2 with values always above 50%; real wastewater yielded the highest removal efficiencies. EE2 removal had better removal efficiencies with synthetic wastewater as feed solution, with removals above 15%, whereas the removal efficiency with real wastewater was inexistent.

Oestrogenic Activity in Girls with Signs of Precocious Puberty as Exposure Biomarker to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: A Pilot Study

“…Indeed, some studies have shown that the presence of EDCs in anthropized watercourses, due to inadequate urban wastewater management, can lead to pollution of drinking water sources. Since drinking water treatment technology can be ineffective in removing these compounds, consumption of tap water can cause the consequent EDC intake [18,20,70]. Exposure in urban areas may also occur through inhalation of atmospheric EDCs released by human activities (e.g., traffic, industrial processes, waste incineration) [21,71].…”

An efficient simultaneous degradation of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim by photoelectro-Fenton process under non-modified pH using a natural citric acid source: study of biodegradability, ecotoxicity, and antibacterial activity

“…Consequently, additional experiments should be performed to establish the possible environmental and human risk of these DPs. The biodegradability tests of the treated solutions it's a well indicator of the possible generation of bioaccumulative DPS that could be even more toxic than the initial molecule (Jojoa-Sierra et al 2017; Rosseti 2017; Maurício et al 2018). Therefore, a modi ed Zahn Wellens test was carried out to evaluate biodegradability to the treated solutions at different times along the PEF process (0, 45 and 90 min of treatment).…”

Linker functionalised phosphinate metal-organic frameworks: Adsorbents for the removal of emerging pollutants

“…Emerging pollutants (or Contaminants of Emerging Concern -CECs) are compounds which are detected at low levels in surface water and are not commonly monitored/regulated but may have an impact on aquatic life and ecosystem and on human health. 1,2 The group of CECs consists mainly of antibiotics, 3 pharmaceutics, 4 steroids, 5 endocrine disruptors, 6 hormones, 7 industrial additives, 8 chemicals from personal care products, 9 other chemicals, 10 and also microbeads and microplastics. 11,12 One of the main concerns are antibiotics and pharmaceutics in general, because they can accumulate in aquatic organisms and consequently in humans with unknown health effects.…”