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Abstract
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17-alpha-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) is the synthetic form of 17-beta estradiol, which is well
known as steroid hormone. According to the literature, existence of steroid hormones in water
and foods is a one of the main risk factors causing breast and prostate cancer [1]. Steroid
hormones cause infertility and short stature in men as endocrine disrupters. So there is a vital
need to develop effective methods for degradation of them. In this study, photocatalytic
degradation of EE2 in aquatic environment and in the presence of TiO2 immobilized glass as
nano-photocatalyst under UVC irradiation was investigated. The effect of various parameters
on degradation processes such as pH, time and intensity of UV radiation were studied and
optimized. Mechanism of degradation was also studied.
Experimental design of degradation process based on central composite design was
carried out and following model was obtained.
In order to evaluation of degradation performance and identification of photo-degradation
by-products an SPME method based on n-octanol loaded hollow fiber membrane coupled
with HPLC and GC/MS were proposed.
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