Endocrine disruptors  ( #EDCs ) are chemical products that interfere with natural hormone systems in humans, in animals and even in crop plants. For a long time, EDCs were not suspected of posing a danger to our society, but today we understand that quite some EDCs could be the cause of several hormonal diseases and disorders. For other EDCs it is still unclear what danger they pose. As many EDCs are underregulated today, they are still frequently used in industrial and consumer products, they can be found in many industrial and domestic wastewater streams and in rivers and waterways. Examples of endocrine disruptors are bisphenol A, dioxins, PFAS, phthalate plasticisers, etc.
Conventional water treatment does not remedy the presence of EDCs, and the existing removal solutions are expensive and not sustainable. With future tightening of environmental legislation in mind, VITO and INOPSYS NV developed solutions for the removal of EDCs from wastewater streams during a 2-year project. The conclusion is that pressure driven membrane filtration with A-membranes’ grafted ceramic membranes is a promising solution to remove the EDCs. Follow-up research to scale up and demonstrate the technology on a larger scale is being prepared.  
Vito is a research institute focussed on cleantech and sustainability. They are co-developer of A-membranes’ grafting technology. Inopsys is a company based in Mechelen, Belgium that provides modular and mobile solutions for the treatment of both aqueous and solvent-based side streams especially in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and for the recovery of valuable components. #membrane #membranefiltration #wastewatertreatment #cleantech

More on this on VITO’s website: https://vito.be/en/news/innovative-membrane-technology-filter-endocrine-disruptors-wastewater