Estrogenic compounds, an emerging aquatic pollutant: an overview of their measurement and treatment methods

Abstract

Estrogens are hormonal secretions of humans and animals. Their natural degradation cycle is disrupted when the populations of both humans and livestock increases at a tremendous rate, increasing the amount of estrogen released into water bodies. Pollution of estrogenic compounds has caught the attention of researchers as the slight increase of estrogens in the water bodies has significant impact on the aquatic system. In this review, we compare various estrogenic compound analysis methods, identify sources and levels of estrogenic hormonal secretion pollution in surface as well as sewage waste waters and discuss various treatment technologies used to remove estrogenic compounds. We found that the use of different analysis methods hinders an accurate comparison of data. A comprehensive review is conducted on diverse removal technologies, identifying their advantages and disadvantages, followed by recommendations on strategies to deal with estrogenic pollution in water bodies.