Researchers develop technology to remove hormones from drinking water

At the Center for Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco (CIATEJ) at the east of Mexico, an oxidation process has been developed that uses ozone to degrade contaminants in water that alter the synthesis, transport, action or elimination of natural hormones.

These compounds represent a potential risk to human health associated with problems in the male and female reproductive systems, and some of them are precursors of breast and prostate cancer.

The research team led by PhD Alberto Lopez at CIATEJ carried out the procedure via gas-liquid reactors, where water contaminated with disrupting compounds of the endocrine system (EDCs) is passed through a gas stream with ozone, which is a major oxidant.

Under certain conditions of temperature, the pH, pressure and ozone dosage, the EDCs are degraded to less than 95 percent of initial concentration, exceeding conventional water treatment processes that only reach 50 percent removal.

EDCs are found in surface water, soil and air. There is great diversity of them, including solvents, organochlorine pesticides, flame retardants, plasticizers and synthetic and natural hormones.

The project aimed at developing analytical methodologies to identify and quantify these compounds in different types of water, as well as the development of a process of advanced oxidation based on Ozone (POA-03) to degrade EDCs present in the water in order to establish the technical, scientific and optimal treatment conditions for a future scaling process.