Degradation and estrogenic activity removal of 17 beta -estradiol and 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol by ozonation and O sub(3)/H sub(2)O sub(2)
This work investigated the degradation of a natural (17 beta -estradiol) and a synthetic (17 alpha -ethinylestradiol) estrogens (pure or in the mixture) and the removal of estrogenic activity by the ozonation and O sub(3)/H sub(2)O sub(2) process in three different pHs (3, 7 and 11). The effect of o...
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| Published in: | The Science of the total environment Vol. 407; no. 1; pp. 105 - 115 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
15-12-2008
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | This work investigated the degradation of a natural (17 beta -estradiol) and a synthetic (17 alpha -ethinylestradiol) estrogens (pure or in the mixture) and the removal of estrogenic activity by the ozonation and O sub(3)/H sub(2)O sub(2) process in three different pHs (3, 7 and 11). The effect of oxidation via OH radical was evaluated adding a radical scavenger (t-butanol) in the medium. Estrogenic activity was performed using the YES assay. 17 beta -estradiol and 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol presented similar estrogenic potential and the association of these estrogens resulted in an addictive effect for estrogenic activity. Ozonation and O sub(3)/H sub(2)O sub(2) processes were effective in removing the estrogens in aqueous solution. In the mixture at pH 11, removals were higher than 98% and 96% for 17 beta -estradiol and 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol, respectively. In pH 3, 17 beta -estradiol and 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol removals were 100% and 99.7%, respectively. When estrogens were treated separately, the removals in pH 11 were superior to 99.7 and 98.8%, while in pH 3 were 100% and 99.5% for 17 beta -estradiol and 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol, respectively. 17 alpha -ethinylestradiol has been always removed at lower rates (pure or in the mixture) for all applied conditions. Estrogenic activity was completely removed in pH 3 for ozonation or O sub(3)/H sub(2)O sub(2) sub(.) The samples oxidized in pH 11 presented higher estrogenic activity than those in pH 7. Estrogens removal was lower at pHs 7 and 11, when the scavenger was added to the media. The higher estrogen residual concentrations found in ozonation in presence of tert-butanol are contributing for higher estrogenic activity observed in pHs 7 and 11. By-products with estrogenic activity were formed by oxidation via OH radical. Only a few compounds could be identified in pHs 7 and 11 and they have a phenolic ring, which, probably is contributing to the estrogenic activity observed. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
| ISSN: | 0048-9697 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.08.011 |