Estrogen Concentration Affects its Biodegradation Rate in Activated Sludge

The effect of concentration on the biodegradation rate of the steroid estrogens, estrone (E1) and 17‐α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2), was studied in batch and continuous‐flow reactor systems using fresh activated sludge from two sewage treatment plants. Between the concentrations of 0.03 and 10 μg/L in the batch system, no consistent difference was found in the biodegradation rates for either estrogen. The biodegradation half‐life was 0.3 to 0.7 h for E1 and 1.5 to 4.4 h for EE2 at 15 to 20°C. However, at 100 μg/L, biodegradation rates for both estrogens decreased, with the half‐life prolonged to approximately 2.5 h for E1 and 12 to 18 h for EE2. In continuous‐flow experiments, over a 2‐h residence time, 95% of E1 and 48% of EE2 were removed on average at 0.1 μg/L while 52% of E1 and 20% of EE2 were removed at 100 μg/L. In general, spiking concentration of estrogens did not appear to affect biodegradation rates between the nanogram per liter to low microgram per liter levels in activated sludge; however, the rates greatly slowed when the concentration increased up to 100 μg/L. The results suggest activated sludge biodegradation studies with estrogens in the high microgram per liter levels could give misleading results and should be avoided.

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