Survey on the change of estrogenic activity of wastewater by UV disinfection in wastewater treatment plants

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in the environment is presently of great concern all over the world. In this study, The estrogenic activity (EA) of pre-UV and post-UV samples from five wastewater treatment plants were measured in both liquid and solid phase by Yeast Estrogen Screen assay. Over 95% EA of wastewater, both in pre-UV and post-UV samples, is associated in liquid phase. In liquid phase, the EA of filtered wastewater slightly decreased through UV disinfection in three plants NE, SE and ML; whereas the EA of filtered wastewater increased through UV disinfection in the other two plants PT and BD. The increase of EA in liquid phase through UV disinfection is significant in plant BD, from an average 96.0 ng/L in pre-UV samples to an average 135.6 ng/L in post-UV samples. In solid phase, EA of wastewater decreased after UV disinfection in all five investigated plants.