PHYTOREMEDIATION OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS IN URBAN RIVER WATER

Abstract

  In recent years, a small amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were found in urban river water despite of EDCs elimination through sewage farm. Phytoremediation using quatic organism is one of remarkable methods to remove such a very small quantity of EDCs. In this study, the removal rate of EDCs such as 17β-estraziol (E2) and bisphenol A (BPA) by aquatic plant and periphyton is determined from laboratory experiments as a function of water temperature and weight of the quatic organism. Field observations revealed that concentrations of BPA and E2 decrease with flowing down in Nikaryo canal, Tokyo, Japan, where the aquatic plant and periphyton grow thickly. The prediction model using the experimental result on the removal rate can explain the observed decrease. These results suggested that the quatic organism in urban river ecosystem has a self-purification capacity for EDCs.