Abstract
In the past few decades, many emerging pollutants have been detected and monitored in different water sources because of their universal consumption and improper disposal. Among these, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), a group of organic chemicals, have received global attention due to their estrogen effect, toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation. For the removal of EDCs, conventional wastewater treatment methods include flocculation, precipitation, adsorption, etc. However, there are some limitations on these common methods. Herein, in order to enhance the public’s understanding of environmental EDCs, the definition of EDCs and the characteristics of several typical EDCs (physical and chemical properties, sources, usage, concentrations in the environment) are reviewed and summarized in this paper. In particular, the methods of EDC removal are reviewed, including the traditional methods of EDC removal, photocatalysis, biodegradation of EDCs and the latest research results of EDC removal. It is proposed that photocatalysis and biodegradation could be used as an environmentally friendly and efficient EDC removal technology. Photocatalytic technology could be one of the water treatment methods with the most potential, with great development prospects due to its high catalytic efficiency and low energy consumption. Biodegradation is expected to replace traditional water treatment methods and is also considered to be a highly promising method for efficient removal of EDCs. Besides, we summarize several photocatalysts with high catalytic activity and some fungi, bacteria and algae with strong biodegradability.
Highlights
The endocrine system is known as one of the three major information transmission systems of human beings and plays a key role in regulating various functions of the body and maintaining the relative stability of the internal environment [1,2]
The results have indicated that traditional water treatment processes such as flocculation and precipitation cannot effectively remove endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including NP and bisphenol A (BPA), and the removal efficiency of BPA is below 10%
The complete removal of E2 and estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) in the results indicated that microalgae were a low-cost photooxidation and/or biodegradation treatment system for pollutants
Summary
The endocrine system is known as one of the three major information transmission systems of human beings and plays a key role in regulating various functions of the body and maintaining the relative stability of the internal environment [1,2]. Many natural and synthetic compounds, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), can alter normal endocrine function by removing or binding to endogenous hormone receptors, altering processes such as synthesis, storage, release, metabolism and transport [3,4] These so-called EDCs are a large group of emerging contaminants found in water environments and process effluents at low concentrations [5] and are termed “endocrine disruptors” or “environmental hormones”. According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), an EDC is “an exogenous substance or mixture that can alter normal hormonal functions in humans and animals, and affects the endocrine system of living organisms” These contaminants have different classifications due to their usage or origin and effects. As for endocrine-disrupting phenolic compounds such as nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA), they have the characteristics of low estrogenic activity, but their concentration in wastewater is relatively high, reaching micrograms per liter [9,10]
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