17-� Estradiol (E2), a natural steroid hormone also prescribed pharmaceutically, exhibits a toxic concern in natural water sources.  Common environmental regulations do not necessitate a monitoring of E2 and most wastewater treatment methods do not effectively degrade steroid compounds to a guaranteed extent. E2 photodegrades by both indirect and direct mechanisms in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.  Direct requires only the presence of UV light to break down E2 molecules, while an indirect photo-Fenton design couples UV light with iron oxide and hydrogen peroxide for degradation via hydroxy free radicals.  High performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV detection at 280 nm is utilized as a means to quantify E2 in aqueous solution with external calibration.  With quantification of E2 in solution periodically during photolysis, comparisons of the kinetics for indirect and direct photodegradation are compared.  To better understand the photo-Fenton indirect design, amounts of hydrogen peroxide in solution are also varied.  With direct degradation, E2 follows pseudo first-order kinetics with a half-life of 0.4693 h.  The degradation rate of E2 via the indirect photo-Fenton design should be even faster with a shorter half-life.  This data potentially aids in the development of appropriate wastewater treatment techniques to better degrade E2 and similar steroids, reducing their concerned presence in the environment.

Investigation of 17-� estradiol degradation rates via direct UV and indirect photo-fenton photolysis

247th National Meeting (2014)

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