Recent Advances on Innovative Materials from Biowaste Recycling for the Removal of Environmental Estrogens from Water and Soil

Abstract

New technologies have been developed around the world to tackle current emergencies such as biowaste recycling, renewable energy production and reduction of environmental pollution. The thermochemical and biological conversions of waste biomass for bioenergy production release solid coproducts and byproducts, namely biochar (BC), hydrochar (HC) and digestate (DG), which can have important environmental and agricultural applications. Due to their physicochemical properties, these carbon-rich materials can behave as biosorbents of contaminants and be used for both wastewater treatment and soil remediation, representing a valid alternative to more expensive products and sophisticated strategies. The alkylphenols bisphenol A, octylphenol and nonylphenol possess estrogenic activity comparable to that of the human steroid hormones estrone, 17β-estradiol (and synthetic analog 17α-ethinyl estradiol) and estriol. Their ubiquitous presence in ecosystems poses a serious threat to wildlife and humans. Conventional wastewater treatment plants often fail to remove environmental estrogens (EEs). This review aims to focus attention on the urgent need to limit the presence of EEs in the environment through a modern and sustainable approach based on the use of recycled biowaste. Materials such as BC, HC and DG, the last being examined here for the first time as a biosorbent, appear appropriate for the removal of EEs both for their negligible cost and continuously improving performance and because their production contributes to solving other emergencies, such as virtuous management of organic waste, carbon sequestration, bioenergy production and implementation of the circular economy. Characterization of biosorbents, qualitative and quantitative aspects of the adsorption/desorption process and data modeling are examined.

Potential of Biochar from Wood Gasification to Retain Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

“…Basic properties of the biochar sample ( Table 1 ) are comparable to those reported in the scientific literature for wood biochars from pyrolysis or gasification [ 5 ]. As expected, biochar showed high values of pH, EC and ash content.…”

“…Thermochemical conversion processes of waste biomass, such as gasification, pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization, along with biological processes, such as anaerobic digestion, are considered relatively inexpensive and environmentally friendly solutions for energy needs. In addition to gaseous and liquid fuels, these processes release large quantities of recyclable carbon-rich byproducts, which have proved to be valid soil improvers [ 1 , 2 ] or very efficient biosorbents for practices of environmental remediation [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. In addition to responding to the demand for energy, the technologies used for the treatment of biowaste represent virtuous solutions to other emergencies, such as the disposal of the enormous mass of organic solid waste, the reduction of climate-altering gases emission into the atmosphere and the implementation of circular economy.…”

“…Furthermore, the need to decontaminate wastewater for virtuous recycling nowadays requires the abandonment of complex strategies and expensive materials. In recent years, biochar has shown excellent adsorption capacity of both inorganic and organic pollutants [ 5 , 25 ]. Among the studies available in the literature on the sorption/desorption of organic pollutants by biochar, a very limited number concern biochar produced by gasification.…”

Sustainable Soil Management: Effects of Clinoptilolite and Organic Compost Soil Application on Eco-Physiology, Quercitin, and Hydroxylated, Methoxylated Anthocyanins on Vitis vinifera

“…The aftermath produces slacking (or stuck) fermentations and economic shrinkage in the winery [ 55 ]. Furthermore, insensitivity and non-respect for the vineyard ecosystem conservation induced by agronomic choices not aimed at recycling or revaluing the product lead to environmental pollution (the use of synthetic products) [ 56 ] on one hand and on the other to greater waste production (the non-closed loop approach) [ 57 , 58 ]. This experimentation was created to improve vine welfare and berry quality through the Zeowine application, a new amendment derived from the compost processes of industrial wine waste and zeolite.…”

Recycled Materials in Civil and Environmental Engineering

“…In the review by Loffredo [ 26 ] new technologies of biomass conversion were developed with the primary goal of recycling biowaste and producing bioenergy. The co-products and by-products of these processes such as biochar, hydrochar, and digestate showed physicochemical properties that suggested their use as biosorbents of phenolic and steroidal environmental estrogens in wastewater treatment and soil remediation.…”