Abstract
In order to clarify the removal performances of estrogens by aquatic plants, experimental studies were conducted using four species of aquatic plants (Ceratophyllum demersum, Riccia fluitans, Spirodela polyrhiza and Limnobium laevigatum) and six enzymes (soluble peroxidase, ionicaly cell wall-bound proxidase, covalently cell wall-bound peroxidase, laccase, polyphenol peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase) extracted from the plants. Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) were target compounds. It was found that estrogens were efficiently removed by plants as well as by peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide inside plants. Compared with a mathematical model developed based on an assumption of mass transfer diffusion limitation, removal rates of estrogens by aquatic plants were considered to be governed by mass transfer rates of estrogens in liquid film.
