The remediation of hormonal contaminants using sorptive materials

The presence of low level natural estrogen and androgen in aquatic systems is of great concern for the protection of the environment and human health. Efficient removal of estrogen and androgen from HPLC water was evaluated by batch test using organo clay and Granular activated carbon (GAC) in combination with hormone measurement using highly sensitive estrogen and androgen reporter gene assays (RGAs). This study showed that 1g of each of the sorptive materials efficiently removed over 99 % of 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) or testosterone (T) over a two weeks period from 50 ml of HPLC grade water spiked at a concentration of 1000 ng L^-1. This study demonstrates that organo clay and GAC are highly efficient in removing estrogen and androgen from water. Therefore, these materials may be useful adsorbents for the potential treatment system of natural hormones in aquatic system.