Fate of estrogens in Kuwaiti municipal wastewater treatment plants

Estrogens are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that impact both human and animal health, even at very low levels. Fate of estrogens were evaluated for three municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Kuwait, through determination of estrogens concentrations in influent and effluent streams. The solid-phase extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method was used for analysis of estrogens concentrations in wastewater. Obtained results indicated that concentration of estrogens in the influent streams ranged from 0.0 to 474 ng/L, while that in the effluent streams were between 0.0 to 233 ng/L. Both influent and effluent concentrations showed high variations around mean values. Total removal of estrogens were found to be 13%, 79%, 68%, for Kabd, Sulaibiya and Umm Al Hayman, respectively. Even with high influent loadings, Sulaibiya plant achieved the highest removal of all types of estrogens, except estrone. The obtained results demonstrated that WWTPs require upgrading/optimization to maximize estrogens’ removal. The study also discussed the potential impacts of estrogens in treated wastewater reused as irrigation water and recommended that Kuwait urgently needs to develop regulations for estrogens discharges from WWTPs in order to prevent further pollution of marine environment and groundwater with estrogens.