Competitive kinetics versus stopped flow method for determining the degradation rate constants of steroids by ozonation.

Steroids are classified as endocrine disrupting chemicals; they are persistent with low biodegradability and are hardly degraded by conventional methods. Ozonation process has been effective for steroids degradation and the determination of the kinetics is a fundamental aspect for the design and operation of the reactor. This study assessed two methods: competitive kinetics and stopped flow, for determining the degradation kinetics of two steroids, estradiol (E2) and ethinylestradiol (EE2) in spiked water.