Removal strategies for endocrine disrupting chemicals using cellulose-based materials as adsorbents: A review

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) disturb the endocrine system functionality causing negative effects on health in an organism and its progeny. Many studies have reported presence of potential EDC's in wastewater and groundwater, indoor and outdoor air, agricultural soils and food. Epidemiological studies suggest that endocrine disruptors are associated to many worldwide increasing human diseases such as obesity, reproductive abnormalities, cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular risk, autism, and epigenetic alterations. Effective technological advances for removal of endocrine disruptors in aqueous systems, food matrixes and airborne systems include aeration, ultraviolet irradiation, oxidation, chlorination, coagulation, filtration, biodegradation and membrane technology. However, they still require high investments and operational costs. On the other hand, low-cost cellulose-based materials can be designed for the removal of EDC's via adsorption. Cellulose is the most abundant natural biopolymer, and it can be obtained directly from agricultural wastes, chemically modified and blended with other polymers or manufactured at nano-scale. This review aims to summarize the most relevant cases where cellulose-based materials have successfully removed EDC's from its environmental matrixes, including technological opportunities foreseen within two categories: native and modified cellulose materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.