LAUSR

Land application is suggested to be the most economical sludge disposal method but is also a potential source of bisphenol analogs (BPs) to the environment. In this study, BP concentrations in sewage sludge from Henan province ranged from 15.1 to 2237 ng g−1 dw. BPA was dominant with mean concentration of 140 ng g−1 dw, followed by BPS (mean 43.4 ng g−1 dw), BPF (mean 7.98 ng g−1 dw), BPAF (mean 1.04 ng g−1 dw), BPAP (mean 0.88 ng g−1 dw), BPB (mean 0.38 ng g−1 dw), and BPZ (mean 0.33 ng g−1 dw). Apart from BPB, no significant correlations were found between BPs and wastewater treatment plants characteristics, probably because adsorption does not play a major role in the removal of BPs. The estimated total emission flux of BPs from sludge-amended soils are approximately 62.7 kg year−1. BPA is the largest contributor with emission flux of 45.3 kg year−1. Hazard quotient values for BPs in sludge-amended soils are 3–6 orders of magnitude lower than 1 with total 17β-estradiol equivalents ranging from 0.33 to 26.8 pg g−1 E2EQ dw. Overall, although being partially replaced by other analogs, BPA is still widely used in Henan province.