Can estrogen and hormones be filtered out with water purification reverse osmosis?

Question

Can estrogen and hormones be filtered out with water purification reverse osmosis?

Answer 1

As noted in the previous posting the effective pore size (opening) in a RO membrane is much smaller that the size of an estrogen  molecule. RO will remove hormone molecules from water, along with almost every thing else larger than a water molecule.

As mentioned, a microfilter might be a better choice.  They can be made with a specific effective pore size for a specific atomic cutoff.  That means a custom made membrane to remove just those things that need to be removed.  The benefit is lower membrane costs, less energy required, and less concentrated reject from the membrane.

Answer 2

No I don't think they can. RO is effective is between particle sizes ranging between 0.0001 to 0.002 microns (=micro meters = μm). The average particle size of estrogen hormones and compounds is about 3 μm. Therefore a filter with a larger pore size, such as micro filtration would be more effective than reverse osmosis.