In this work, the solar light-induced photocatalytic degradation of ethyl paraben (EP), a representative of the parabens family, was studied using silver orthophosphate, a relatively new photocatalytic material. The catalyst was synthesized by a precipitation method and had a primary crystallite size of ca 70 nm, specific surface area of 1.4 m(2)/g and a bandgap of 2.4 eV. A factorial design methodology was implemented to evaluate the importance of EP concentration (500-1500 mu g/L), catalyst concentration (100-500 mg/L), reaction time (4-30 min), water matrix (pure water or 10 mg/L humic acid) and initial solution pH (3-9) on EP removal. All individual effects but solution pH were statistically significant and so were the second order interactions of EP concentration with reaction time or catalyst concentration. The water matrix effect was negative (all other effects were positive) signifying the role of humic acid as scavenger of the oxidant species. Liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry revealed the formation of methyl paraben, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, benzoic acid and phenol as primary transformation by-products; these are formed through dealkylation and decarboxylation reactions initiated primarily by the photogenerated holes. Estrogenicity assays showed that methyl paraben was more estrogenic than EP; however, parabens are slightly estrogenic compared to 17 beta-estradiol. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.