Seeking an ideal water treatment method for endocrine disrupting compounds, which would mineralize the pollutants with least byproducts, is urgent for environmental remediation and human health. Herein, the photocatalytic elimination of 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane (BPA) by BiOBr@SiO2@Fe3O4 under the irradiation of different light sources was investigated. The experimental results revealed that the photocatalytic activity of the recyclable magnetic BiOBr@SiO2@Fe3O4 rnicrospheres was superior to that of commercial TiO2 (P25) under the visible light irradiation. More importantly, only one main intermediate was detected during the photocatalytic degradation. To analyze the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of BPA, particular attention was paid to the identification of active species and intermediates. On the basis of the evidence of active species formation, a detailed degradation pathway of BPA degradation by BiOBr@SiO2@Fe3O4 microspheres photocatalysts is proposed. This study provides a reasonable insight into the correlation between the active species and intermediated during the photocatalytic degradation process. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.