A study of a Chinese wastewater treatment plant found that advanced treatment steps can backfire by increasing anti-androgenic activity above a newly derived risk threshold, even as other endocrine effects were reduced. The results highlight how treatment that looks effective on standard endpoints can shift the chemical mix toward different biological activities. The report suggests that regulators and utilities may need to incorporate biological activity thresholds and not rely on single-mode chemical reduction metrics. For biotech and life-science stakeholders working on endocrine-disruptor detection, the work points to continued gaps between treatment performance and downstream endocrine bioactivity. Overall, the study adds urgency to monitoring frameworks that can track functional endocrine outcomes rather than only traditional water quality markers.