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Phthalate esters (PAEs) are a class of emerging xenobiotic compounds that are extensively used as plasticizers. In recent times, there has been an increasing concern over the risk of this pervasive pollution exposure causing endocrine disruption and carcinogenicity in humans and animals. The widespread use of PAEs in home and industrial applications has resulted in their discharge in aquatic bodies via leaching, volatilization, and precipitation. In this overview, the current state of PAE pollution, its potential origins, its fate, as well as its effects on the aquatic environment are discussed. A state-of-the-art review of several studies in the literature that focus on the biological degradation of PAEs is included in this study. The paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of current research on PAEs in the environment, highlighting its fate and alleviated risks on the aquatic biotas, their challenges, future prospects, and the need for good management and policies for its remediation. Practitioner Points:• Occurrence of phthalate esters was summarized in various environmental matrices along with its serious ecotoxicological implications on biota.• Wastewater is the prime source of PAEs contamination.• Lack of species-specific effects on biota due to dose, exposure route, and susceptibility.• The predominant route to mineralization in PAEs is biodegradation.• A critical analysis of worldwide PAE production and consumption identifies the necessity for global PAE production, consumption, and release policies.

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BACKGROUNDMost studies have focused on the degradation of endocrine‐disrupting chemicals using persulfate activation processes. Therefore, the current study compares various sulfate radical activation processes in an aqueous solution of a mixture of diethyl phthalate, butylparaben and bisphenol A that are present in water and wastewater. The effects of initial persulfate dose and pH variation, the effect of concentration of target endocrine‐disrupting chemicals and degradation efficiency under various processes were studied. Additionally, the toxicity and cost estimation of the systems were also examined.RESULTSThe results showed pseudo‐first‐order kinetics with maximum degradation efficiency of 99% for 1 mg L−1 at pH 7, 2.5 mmol L−1 persulfate dose, 450 W power in 60 min for UV‐activated persulfate oxidation process. A quenching experiment highlights the dominance of both sulfate and hydroxyl radicals in the degradation of mixtures of diethyl phthalate, butylparaben and bisphenol A in an aqueous solution. The transformative products identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry were monohydroxylated structures that decompose to form organic acids, indicating efficient degradation capacity with minimal toxicity. Further, the sono‐activated persulfate oxidation process was found to be cost‐effective at 1 mg L−1 with 95% degradation efficiency.CONCLUSIONIt is concluded that an increase in the concentration of target compounds decreases the efficiency of degradation under various activation processes. pH 3 and pH 7 favor thermal and sono‐activated and UV‐activated processes, respectively. Toxicity evaluation shows minimal harm to non‐target species Daphnia magna for all activation processes. These findings can be useful for on‐field application for the degradation of chemicals in mixtures. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

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In the present work, wastewater treatment plant and sewerage drains from Nagpur, Central India were studied for frequently occurring endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). All the EDCs, such as bisphenol A (BPA), butylparaben (BuP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP) were present in all the collected samples with a detection frequency of 100%. Laboratory analysis revealed high BPA, BuP, and DEP levels, with mean concentrations of 79.10 ng/L, 4.12 ng/L, and 2.25 µg/L, respectively, in influent samples and 33.20 ng/L, 1.62 ng/L, and 0.77 µg/L, respectively, in effluent wastewater. The distribution of the emergent pollutants among the sampling locations was found to be consistent with the physico-chemical characteristics of wastewater, according to the component analysis, and the sites with the highest levels of contamination were also identified. Finally, an ecological risk assessment was carried out for aquatic biota in terms of risk quotients (RQs). The RQs for the target chemicals in effluent wastewater suggested a minimal impact, except for the target insect Chrironomus riparius, which had an RQ value of 33.20 for BPA.