Occurrence, Removal, and Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment of 18 Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in Wastewater Treatment Plants in Nanjing, China

This study analyzed the characteristics of 18 endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) detected in four wastewater treatment plants in Nanjing, China. The removal efficiency, ecological and health risks of EDCs were evaluated. The results showed that EDCs were detected to different degrees, with prednisone as the main contributor, and the total concentrations of EDCs ranged from 532.89 to 8535.88 ng/L and 14.98 to 128.91 ng/L, respectively. Most of the EDCs were significantly decreased after secondary treatment, with removal efficiencies ranging from 9.7% to 100%. The ecological risk assessment showed that trenbolone and norethindrone had the highest risk quotients and posed a high risk to aquatic organisms. The health risk evaluation suggested that the health risk values in the cases of adult drinking water route, children's drinking water route, and adult exposure route were all less than 1, indicating that EDCs did not pose significant non-carcinogenic health hazards to humans.