Efficiency of selected wastewater treatment processes in removing estrogen compounds and reducing estrogenic activity using the T47D-KBLUC reporter gene assay.

The occurrence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) consisting of natural and synthetic estrogens, namely estrone (E), 17β-estradiol (E), estriol (E) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE) was quantified in wastewater samples. The aim of this study was to assess the removal efficiency for the selected estrogens (E, E, E and EE) and reduction of estrogenic activity in wastewater samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) using different processes. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods were used to quantify the selected estrogens in wastewater samples.