STUDIES OF THE DEGRADATION OF THE ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR ETHYNYL ESTRADIOL (EE2) IN A FLOW-THROUGH ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTOR

摘要

Ethynyl estradiol (EE2) is one of the active ingredients commonly used in oral contraceptives. It has been detected in surface water with many other endocrine disruptors (EDCs), notably bisphenol A, nonylphenol, etc. Strong endocrine effects of EE2 even at extremely low concentrations necessitate its removal in water and wastewater treatment. Although EDCs can be degraded by several processes including ozone or permanganate oxidations and TiO2 photocatalysis, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) that employ hydroxyl (OH·) radicals are especially attractive because OH· radicals can completely destroy most of EDCs and generate less harmful by-products. Electrochemical (EC) oxidation has also been shown to perform well in the destruction of EDCs because they can be oxidized either directly at the surface of metal- or carbon-based anodes or indirectly by OH· radicals generated on metal oxide-based anodes or boron-doped electrodes.