Abstract:
The world's water resources are increasingly threatened by climate change and various organic and inorganic pollutants. Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one such pollutant and have emerged as an environmental threat to aquatic ecosystems. PAEs are synthetic chemicals that mimic activity of natural hormones and disrupt the endocrine system of organisms, including humans, leading to harmful effects. Due to their endocrine-disrupting nature, PAEs are also known as endocrine disrupting phthalates (EDPs). Hence, this thesis work focused to establish the efficient and low-cost treatment strategy for biodegradation and toxicity removal of EDPs. In order to find out the best treatment system, the biodegradation of different EDPs at various concentration combinations were evaluated using different bioengineered systems, viz. continuous stirred tank bioreactor (CSTB), two-phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB) and membrane-integrated bioreactor system, under aerobic condition. The toxicity removal efficiency of different systems was evaluated by the toxicity assessment of the treated water using brine shrimp mortality and seed germination bioassays.
