Potential of various herbaceous species to remove the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A from aqueous media

Several different plants are capable of removing and detoxifying the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A from water starting with initial concentrations of 4.6 mg L−1 and 46 mg L−1. Bisphenol A seems to be glycosylated, transformed to polar compounds, and bound as residue by five forage grasses, fescue, couch grass, perennial ryegrass, Siberian wheatgrass, and white clover, and three horticultural species, cucumber, marrow plant, and radish. Septic and axenic testing established that microbial degradation is possible for fescue and radish, and perennial ryegrass exudates seemed to contain enzymatic activity that transforms bisphenol A, but this activity is evidently deactivated by microorganisms. Although the grasses tested were more effective than the horticultural species, the optimal species of plants best suited for phytoremediation of bisphenol A was not determined. The limited plant testing during 16 d does not define how nor which phytoremediation practices can be applied, but the removal efficiency and evident transformation of bisphenol A justify further feasibility, pilot, and treatability testing of different wastewaters.