Water contamination by endocrine disruptors: Impacts, microbiological aspects and trends for environmental protection.

Water contamination by endocrine disruptors: Impacts, microbiological aspects and trends for environmental protection. Environ Pollut. 2018 Jan 09;235:546-559 Authors: Vilela CLS, Bassin JP, Peixoto RS Abstract Hormone active agents constitute a dangerous class of pollutants. Among them, those agents that mimic the action of estrogens on target cells and are part of the group of endocrine-disruptor compounds (EDCs) are termed estrogenic EDCs, the main focus of this review. Exposure to these compounds causes a number of negative effects, including breast cancer, infertility and animal hermaphroditism. However, especially in underdeveloped countries, limited efforts have been made to warn people about this serious issue, explain the methods of minimizing exposure, and develop feasible and efficient mitigation strategies at different levels and in various environments. For instance, the use of bioremediation processes capable of transforming EDCs into environmentally friendly compounds has been little explored. A wide diversity of estrogen-degrading microorganisms could be used to develop such technologies, which include bioremediation processes for EDCs that could be implemented in biological filters for the post-treatment of wastewater effluent. This review describes problems associated with EDCs, primarily estrogenic EDCs, including exposure as well as the present status of understanding and the effects of natural and synthetic hormo...
Source: Environmental Pollution - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Environ Pollut Source Type: research