Removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Compounds of Emerging Concern in Public-Owned Sewage Treatment Works: A Review - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 151

predicted.theoretically;.hence,.the.success.of.this.process.requires.empirical.
and.practical.proof..The.biodegradation.of.some.POPs.and.CECs.would.gen-
erate.partially.degraded.intermediates.that.could.be.more.bioactive.than.the.
parent.compound.(Gröning.et.al..2007).
One.of.the.dificulties.in.reviewing.the.removal.eficiencies.of.POPs.and.
CECs.from.the.literature.was.the.large.volume.of.data.presented.in.some.of.
the.articles,.where.no.detailed.explanations.were.provided..This.means.it.is.
entirely.left.to.the.reader.to.digest.and.understand.the.actual.driving.force.
of.the.removal.mechanism..Table.8.1.consists.of.data.extracted.from.a.large.
project.by.Snyder.et.al..(2007),.in.the.“Removal.of.EDCs.and.Pharmaceuticals.
in. Drinking. and. Reuse. Treatment. Processes.”. Using. the. data. from. the. il-
ter.with.biologically.active.anthracite.column.(BAF).and.from.the.ilter.with.
biologically. active. carbon. column. (BAC),. these. authors. concluded. that. “it.
is. likely. that. removal. shown. in. the. pilot-scale. BAC. for. the. less. biodegrad-
able.contaminants.was.largely.due.to.adsorption.(by.activated.carbon.[AC]).
rather.than.biodegradation.”.The.data.from.the.experiment.on.“Adsorption.+.
Biodegradation,. Ambient,. 2. days”. stated. that. “the. removal. (of. hormones).
in. this. experiment. was. strictly. due. to. adsorption. (by. particulate. matter)..
Biosorption. appeared. to. be. signiicant. for. some. target. compounds. (hor-
mones).”.The.authors.did.not.explain.their.observations.on.the.experiment.
for.the.ilter.with.biologically.active.sand.column.(BAS)..But.they.did.empha-
size.that.their.experiment.on.riverbank.iltration.with.BAS.correlated.with.
the.data.obtained.in.biological.degradation.batch.tests.that.were.conducted.
and. published. previously. (Snyder. et. al.. 2004). by. their. team.. Based. on. the.
BAF.data.and.the.other.data.as.presented.in.Table.8.1,.it.can.be.inferred.that.
these. hormones. (estradiol,. estriol,. estrone,. and. ethinylestradiol). would. not.
go.through.any.signiicant.biodegradation.in.the.POSTW..But.they.may.be.
removed.from.the.inluent.into.sludge.due.to.biosorption.to.sand,.carbonic,.

TABLE 8.1
Data.on.Hormone.Removal.(Reported.as.%.Removal)

Filterwith
Biologically
Active
Anthracite
Column(BAF)

Filterwith
Biologically
ActiveCarbon
Column(BAC)

Filterwith
Biologically
ActiveSand
Column(BAS)

Adsorption+
Biodegradation
Ambient2Days

Target
Compound

Estradiol 98% 1% 94% >99

Estriol 81% <1% 92% 99

Estrone 95% <1% 95% >99

Ethinylestradiol 76% 1% 91% 95

Progesterone Not.reported 52% 99% >99

Testosterone 99% 35% 96% >99

Source: . Extracted. from. Snyder,. S.A.. et. al.,. American. Waterworks. Association. Research.

Foundation.(AWWARF),.2007,.p..193,.194,.and.198.