[Determination of environmental estrogens in pharmacy wastewater using solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography/mass...

A method for the determination of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), ethinylestradiol (EE2) and estriol (E3) in pharmacy wastewater was developed using solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPE-GC/MS) with derivatization. The sample was extracted by an SPE column, derivatized by bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), and analyzed by GC/MS. The detection limits were 1.8-4.7 ng/L, and the relative standard deviations were 2.3%-9.1% (n = 8). The recoveries of above four environmental estrogen compounds were (94.0 +/- 2.9)% to (101 +/- 3.8)%. The method can be applied in the determination of the estrogenic compounds in wastewater samples successfully. The concentrations of EE2 and E1 in wastewater were 396.6 ng/L and 39.9 ng/L, respectively, and the removal rates of EE2 and E1 were 35%-40% after traditional biological treatment. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiency was not satisfactory and the traditional treatment process of wastewater containing estrogen compounds from pharmaceuticals factory should be improved.