Determination of environmental estrogens (2018-2024): greener extraction and integrated workflows for water,...

Environmental estrogens are high-potency endocrine-disrupting contaminants detected across aquatic and terrestrial compartments. This review synthesizes advances from 2018 to 2024 in sample-preparation and extraction workflows for surface waters, wastewaters, and solid matrices, emphasizing approaches that enable trace-level quantification and are transferable to international monitoring. Solid-phase extraction remains the workhorse for aqueous samples, while greener and miniaturized formats including magnetic solid-phase extraction, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, thin-film microextraction, and deep eutectic solvent extractions reduce solvent footprints and processing time without sacrificing sensitivity. We evaluate matrix-driven performance with a focus on conjugate stability, potential deconjugation artefacts during sample storage and preparation, and their implications for reporting free versus total estrogens. Because environmental quality standards for key estrogens, notably EE2, approach low-picogram-per-liter levels, we benchmark reported detection limits against EU monitoring requirements (e.g., Watch List/EQS) and clarify IDL versus MDL definitions and reporting practices to improve comparability across studies. Collectively, these developments advance sensitive, scalable and more sustainable monitoring of environmental estrogens and support exposure and risk assessment across bio-, hydro- and lithospheric compartments.