Endocrine Disruptive Estrogens In Wastewater: Revisiting Bacterial Degradation And Zymoremediation

Since endocrine disrupting compounds have been detected in various aqueous systems and known to have adverse ecological and health impacts, tremendous research efforts have been made towards mitigating their discharge into the environment. Conventional methods such as adsorption, electrochemical oxidation, advanced chemical oxidation, membrane filtration and photocatalysis have been developed for the removal of EDCs. However, recent studies have shown that these methods are characterized by many drawbacks such as high environmental impact, operational complexities and costs. As it stands, there is no specific process that exists in wastewater treatment plants for removal of estrogens, under normal circumstances tertiary stage involves chlorine disinfection and nutrient removal in few cases. Recent research trends have shown bacterial and ligninolytic enzyme systems to be the most promising prospect for application in removal of EDCs. The primary research focus in application of these systems recently has been to optimize and increase their stability to resist natural harsh environmental conditions. Hitherto, this review provides a comprehensive outlook on the potential of bacteria in biodegradation of EDCs in wastewater, with a special focus on specie types, origin, degradation efficiencies, and mechanisms. We have also highlighted research gaps and insights into future perspective towards the optimization of these systems. The current review also focused on ligninolytic enzyme recent research trends to suggest the potential application of these systems in removal of EDCs in wastewater. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.