Challenges in biodegradation of trace organic contaminants--gasoline oxygenates and sex hormones.

Advances in analytical methods have led to the identification of several classes of organic chemicals that are associated with adverse environmental effects. Two such classes of organic chemicals, gasoline oxygenates and sex hormones, are used to illustrate challenges associated with the biodegradation of trace organic contaminants. Gasoline oxygenates can be present in groundwater, alone, or commingled with xylene, at appreciable concentrations. However, target-treated water standards dictate that gasoline oxygenates be reduced to the microgram-per-liter concentration range before consumption. Sex hormones, on the other hand, are present in wastewater matrixes in the part-per-trillion concentration range, and the biggest challenge that must be met, before optimizing their removal, is facilitating their detection.