Environmental Water Pollution, Endocrine Interference and Ecotoxicity of 4-tert-Octylphenol: A Review

4-tert-Octylphenol is a degradation product of non-ionic surfactants alkylphenol polyethoxylates as well as raw material for a number of industrial applications. It is a multimedia compound having been detected in all environmental compartments such as indoor air and surface waters. The pollutant is biodegradable, but certain degradation products are more toxic than the parent compound. Newer removal techniques from environmental waters have been presented, but they still require development for large-scale applications. Wastewater treatment by plant enzymes such as peroxidases offers promise in total removal of 4-tert-octylphenol leaving less toxic degradation products. The pollutant's endocrine interference has been well reported but more in oestrogens than in any other signalling pathways through which it is believed to exert toxicity on human and wildlife. In this paper we carried out a review of the activities of this pollutant in environmental waters, endocrine interference and relevance to its toxicities and concluded that inadequate knowledge of its endocrine activities impedes understanding of its toxicity which may frustrate current efforts at ridding the compound from the environment.