ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the recent advances in the issue of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in water, with the focus on the occurrence and fate of EDCs and the treatment techniques used for EDCs removal from water and wastewater. The principal source of estrogenic EDCs in the environment, especially water bodies, is human excretion. As the conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not specifically designed to remove EDCs, estrogens are incompletely removed during treatment, and it is not surprising that WWTP effluents have become the main source of estrogens in the environment. The basic feature of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) is that they generate highly reactive species by dissipating high energy (chemical, electrical, or radiating) into the water body. Biological treatment of wastewater is commonly carried out using a microbial population capable of degrading the organic pollutants under defined conditions. Biodegradation rapidly converts aqueous organic substances into biomass, reducing their biological oxygen demand (BOD) in the process.
