Electro-Fenton (EF) and peroxyelectrocoagulation (PEC) processes were investigated to mineralize 10 mg L−1 erythromycin from ultrapure water, evaluating the influence of anode material (BDD Fe), current density (janode) (5 mA cm−2 cm−2), oxygen flowrate injected cathode (0.8 L min−1 O2 2.0 O2) pH (2.8, 5.0 7.0) on process efficiency electricity costs. 70% mineralization was reached after applyi...

This study aims to characterize the estrogen receptor (er) in sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus) and determine the temporal effects of 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) on erα and vitellogenin (vtg) gene expression in males. Two partial cDNA sequences (erα and erβ1) are presented showing conserved structural features with ers of other species. Transcript levels for both ers were low in control fish b...

This chapter describes the scientific evidence and regulatory debates concerning one of these oestrogens, ethinyloestradiol (EE2), an active ingredient in the birth control pill. First developed in 1938, it is released to the aquatic environment via wastewater treatment plants. Although it is now clear that wildlife species are exposed to and impacted by a cocktail of endocrine disrupting chemi...

Industrial and domestic sewage effluents have been found to cause reproductive disorders in wild fish, often as a result of the interference of compounds in the effluents with the endocrine system. This thesis describes laboratory-based exposure experiments and a field survey that were conducted with juveniles of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. This small teleost is a comm...

Most studies of hormonal activity in rivers have focused on inputs from sewage treatment works (STW), and their consequences for endocrine disruption in fish. It is possible that livestock is contributing to this hormonal activity in rivers. This study represents a search for evidence of steroid hormone contamination in streams associated with livestock farms. The majority of the 10 sites selec...

UV/H₂O₂, which is an advanced treatment technology used to reduce multiple contaminants, is effective in potable water treatment. Simultaneous degradation effects and kinetics of three types of coexisting micropollutant estrogens (steroid estrogens, SEs), including estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), in deionized water were studied. Experiments were carried out wit...

All-male populations are used in tilapia aquaculture because the culture of mixed-sex populations often results in precocious maturation and early reproduction (Mires, 1995). Early maturation shunts energy to gonadal rather than somatic growth. In addition, reproduction in ponds may lead to the harvest of many unmarketable fry. Individuals in mono-sex populations have increased somatic growth r...

Heightened concern over endocrine-disrupting chemicals is driven by the hypothesis that they could reduce reproductive success and affect wildlife populations, but there is little evidence for this expectation. The pharmaceutical ethynylestradiol (EE2) is a potent endocrine modulator and is present in the aquatic environment at biologically active concentrations. To investigate impacts on repro...