Removal of Estrogen in Wastewater by Microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus

Abstract

The objective of the research is to study the removal efficiency of estrone (E1) and β-estradiol (E2) by microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus. The study was conducted in a lab-scale experiment. During the steady state, E1 and E2 decreased by 91% and 99%, respectively. Removal rates for E1 and E2 by microalgae were 4.5 µg/L.d and 4.9 µg/L.d, respectively. Interestingly, E2 were able to transform to be E1, while the slight transformation of E1 was observed. The adsorption capacities for E1 and E2 at the equilibrium state were 0.02 µg/mgDW and 0.03 µg/mgDW, respectively. The isotherm and kinetic sorption of E1 and E2 followed the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo second orders, respectively. In addition, we found that microalgae possibly affected the transformation of E2.