Degradation of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Aqueous Phase by Photolysis and Hydrogen Peroxide

Abstract

Due to the ever increasing concerns about pollutants and contaminants found in water, new treatment technologies have been studied. In this article, photocatalytic degradation was explored for the removal of reactive three endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (estrone, 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol) from synthetic effluents. The major factors affecting the photocatalytic processes including the initial concentration of the target compounds, the amount of catalyst, the light intensity, the type of catalyst, the electron acceptor, the irradiation time and the pH were studied. Complete degradation of all the three EDCs was achieved with UV/H2O2 in 60 minutes at catalyst concentration of (2.94×10-2 M).