Review Environmental impact of phthalic acid esters and their removal from water and sediments by different technologies e A review Mahmoud M. Abdel daiem, José Rivera-Utrilla * , Raúl Ocampo-Pérez, José D. Méndez-Díaz, Manuel Sánchez-Polo Inorganic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain article info Article history: Received 12 March 2012 Received in revised form 8 May 2012 Accepted 16 May 2012 Available online Keywords: Review Phthalic acid esters PAEs in the environment PAEs removal Water treatments Endocrine disrupting chemicals abstract This article describes the most recent methods developed to remove phthalic acid esters (PAEs) from water, wastewater, sludge, and soil. In general, PAEs are considered to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), whose effects may not appear until long after exposure. There are numerous methods for removing PAEs from the environment, including physical, chemical and biological treatments, advanced oxidation processes and combinations of these techniques. This review largely focuses on the treatment of PAEs in aqueous solutions but also reports on their treatment in soil and sludge, as well as their effects on human health and the environment. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Legislation on the quality of wastewater discharged into the environment has become increasingly strict and wastewater reutilization more widespread over recent years, leading to the development of novel technologies for treating wastewater and removing new and emerging pollutants (Arévalo et al., 2009). There is a constant generation of new contaminants with unknown short- , medium-, or long-term effects on human health and the envi- ronment, whose maximum permissible concentrations have yet to be established. Industrial and pharmaceutical pollutants are causing particular concern due to their continuous discharge into water and their persistence, even at low concentrations (Klavarioti et al., 2009). Industrial waste has been poorly managed and is becoming a major problem in industrialized regions. Agriculture, chemical, textile and metallurgic industries consume large amounts of water that are released into the environment after processing and contain dissolved toxic substances such as acids, bases, toxic chemical compounds and heavy metals, all potentially harmful to the envi- ronment (Navarro and Font, 1993). Industrial activity has led to the release of a large number of synthetic organic chemicals into the environment, including plas- ticizers and organic esters, which are added to polymers to facili- tate their processing and increase the flexibility and toughness of the final product by internal modification of the polymer molecules (Bauer and Herrmann, 1997; Nascimento Filho et al., 2003). They are widely used in numerous products, such as medical equipment, food film, upholstery, flooring, mouldings, gaskets, piping, rain- wear, electrical wire insulation, roofing systems, vehicle trim/ undercoating, and pond liners, among others. They also serve to endow paints with special coating properties. The most widely used primary plasticizers have a low molecular weight and are designated monomeric plasticizers, distinguishing them from polymeric plasticizers, which are generally saturated polyesters. The most common monomeric plasticizers are esters derived from phthalic acid, although others are derived from different organic acids, such as phosphates, trimetillates, citrates, sebacates, and adipates, among others (Titow, 1990; Wickson, 1993). The content of phthalate in a finished plastic product ranges from 10 to 60% by weight (IARC, 2000). Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is an excellent example of the industrial importance of plasticizers (Horn et al., 2004). PVC is one of the most * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 958248523; fax: þ34 958248526. E-mail addresses: engdaim@ugr.es (M.M. Abdel daiem), jrivera@ugr.es (J. Rivera- Utrilla), ocampor@correo.ugr.es (R. Ocampo-Pérez), ppmendez@ugr.es (J.D. Méndez-Díaz), mansanch@ugr.es (M. Sánchez-Polo). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.05.014 Journal of Environmental Management 109 (2012) 164e178