Advances in functional nanomaterial-based electrochemical techniques for screening of endocrine disrupting chemicals in various sample matrices

Abstract

This review was organized to describe the progress made in the integration of nanostructural materials into electrochemical analytical tools for the quantification of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in diverse sample matrices (e.g., environmental and biological samples). Here, we focused mainly on seven major EDCs: alkylphenols/phenols, bisphenol A, parabens, triclosan, phthalates, pesticides, and natural/synthetic sex hormones. All of them are known to exhibit endocrine disruption by strong binding with estrogen receptors to pose serious health risks (e.g., cancerous tumors and disorders in various organs). To realize rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of EDCs, the use of nanostructured materials has become a fascinating option due to many merits (e.g., automation, fast response, good accuracy, and high selectivity/sensitivity). Here, the performance of sensing tools built using nanomaterials was assessed for the detection of EDCs in various sample matrices. Our discussion was extended further to cover the future prospects on this fascinating research field.