Impact of Naturally Occurring DOM, Colloids, and Cation Interactions on Nanofiltration of Pharmaceutically Active and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds

The occurrence, fate and ecotoxicology of emerging organic micropollutants including pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), and personal care products (PCPs) have been of interest in recent years. Nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) have emerged as effective alternatives to conventional water treatment for removing pharmaceutically active and endocrine disrupting compounds (Comerton et al., 2008; Radjenovic et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2005) that may pose potential health risks associated with long-term human exposures. This study examined the rejection of selected PhAC/EDCs from a laboratory-prepared water as well as pre-treated surface waters to determine the impact of synergistic interactions of dissolved organic matter (DOM), colloidal and suspended particles, and cations on nanofiltration of PhAC/EDCs.