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Removal of Selected Natural and Synthetic Estrogenic Compounds in a Canadian Full‐Scale Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant
Author(s) -
Cicek Nazim,
Londry Kathleen,
Oleszkiewicz Jan A.,
Wong Denny,
Lee Yoomin
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143007x175744
Subject(s) - wastewater , sewage treatment , environmental science , waste management , scale (ratio) , environmental engineering , engineering , geography , cartography
The effect of a full‐scale municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and each of the treatment units within the stream on the removal of endocrine‐disrupting compounds was evaluated by tracking 17‐β‐estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and 17‐α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2). The overall performance of the WWTP compared well with other plants, as 90.5% removal of E1+E2 and 74.9% removal of EE2 were observed. A larger fraction of EE2 entered the plant in particulate form than E1 and E2, while a lower fraction of EE2 left the plant in particulate form than soluble form. The activated sludge units reduced the concentration of E1+E2 and EE2 in the liquid phase by 88.2% and 44.6%, respectively. The UV treatment process did not reduce the amount of estrogens. The aqueous phase of the tertiary lagoon solids contained higher levels of estrogens compared with the lagoon influent.