Effect of water-sediment flushing events on bisphenol A contamination in the Yellow River estuary

Abstract

Bisphenol A is an environmental endocrine disruptor, and is regarded as the third most important global environmental problem that needs to be solved, after the Ozone hole and global warming. It also features on the European Union blacklist of priority pollutants and international organizations have confirmed bisphenol A as a permanent organic pollutant. Bisphenol A is introduced to the environment mainly through the production of low concentration emissions in manufacturing processes, or through the manufacture or use of disordered emissions. Research to date indicates that bisphenol A disturbs normal hormone secretion of humans and animals, and that it can lead to metabolic disorders because of its known ability to mimic estrogen. There is therefore much concern about its distribution patterns in the environment.