Occurrence of Endocrine Disruptor Chemicals in the Urban Water Cycle of Colombia

In developing countries such as Colombia, information on the occurrence of endocrine disruptors is still incipient. Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, has a complexity at an anthropogenic and environmental level that makes it particularly important to determine the possible presence of this type of compounds and the risks associated with its presence in aquatic environments. During the present study, the occurrence of endocrine disruptors, mainly pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, and hormones in different aquatic matrices including wastewater, surface water, runoff water, and drinking water was evaluated; the results show that phthalates present the highest occurrence followed by bisphenol A, with an important participation of carbamazepine (0.68 – 31.45 μ g L (cid:1) 1 ), the most commonly found compound is bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (BEHP). It was also found in the drinking water, this leads to the conclusion that endocrine disruptors in Colombia and Bogotá are a reality and deserve attention from researchers to deepen their potential sources of generation and control strategies, as well as the provision must start generating policies in this regard.