Abstract:
The aim of the study was to assess the performance of wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) in treatment of
endocrine disrupting estrogens particularly estradiol (E2), estrone (E1) and ethinylestradiol(EE2). The study
was conducted at Mafisa and Mzumbe wastewater stabilization ponds located in Morogoro Urban and Periurban
areas respectively. The endocrine disrupting estrogens in low quality water and sludge were detected
and quantified using competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. The recovery of estrogens in this
study ranged from 65% to 90%. The EE2, E1 and E2 were detected in all samples of low quality water and
sludge from anaerobic to maturation ponds in both study sites. The overall estrogen reduction at Mafisa was
95.8%, 95.3%, 94.9% for EE2, E1 and E2 respectively. At Mzumbe the overall estrogen reduction was 81.6%,
89.3% and 82.5% for EE2, E1 and E2 respectively. The mean concentrations of estrogens in influent to effluent
at Mafisa ranged from 35.6 to 1.5. 60.7 to 2.9 and 85.6 to 4.4 ng/ L for EE2, E1 and E2 respectively. The
corresponding mean concentration at Mzumbe WSPs ranged from 25.5 to 2.7, 23.8 to 4.4 and 39.4 to 6.9 ng/L
for EE2, E1 and E2 respectively. Sludge from anaerobic pond contained significant high amount of estrogens,
whereas in other ponds median concentrations were significant low. The endocrine disrupting estrogens were
significantly reduced in the wastewater stabilization ponds.
