Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), which can alter the endocrine systems of
animals, have been detected in water supplies around the world as the result of human activities.
The majority of EDCs (primarily pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites, which have
been collectively termed pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), and persistent personal care
products) are more polar than traditional drinking water contaminants, such as polychlorinated
biphenyls, and several have acidic or basic moieties. These properties, coupled with trace
quantities, create unique challenges for both removal processes and analytical detection. Very little
is known about the fate of these compounds in the environment and during drinking water
treatment. There are thousands of EDCs and PhACs in the environment, and the number of new
chemicals increases each year, so the need for fate property data is growing. However, it is
impossible to experimentally study the fate and transport of all such problematic chemicals. The
primary goal of this work is therefore to utilize Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship
(QSAR) techniques to predict the removal of EDCs and PhACs by the four major fate and
treatment routes mentioned previously. These routes may be generally categorized by two
mechanisms: phase-partitioning (Henry's constant for air stripping, carbon adsorption) and
destruction (hydrolysis at basic pH, biodegradation).
Includes 22 references, figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 270 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 6 |
| Published : | 06/16/2002 |
