Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pleurotus ostreatus, Trametes versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 were tested for their ability to degrade the endocrine-disrupting compound nonylphenol at an initial concentration of 100 mg l(-1). The highest removals were achieved with T. versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13, which were able to degrade 97 mg l(-1) and 99 mg l(-1) of nonylphenol in 25 days of incubation, respectively. Nonylphenol removal was associated with the production of laccase by T. versicolor, but the levels of laccase, manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase produced by Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 were very low. At 14 degreesC, T. versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 sustained the removal of 88 mg l(-1) and 79 mg l(-1) of nonylphenol, respectively. No pollutant removal was recorded at 4 degreesC, although both fungi could grow at this temperature in the absence of nonylphenol. A microtoxicity assay showed that the fungi produced compounds that were toxic to Vibrio fischerii; and thus a reduction in toxicity could not be correlated with nonylphenol metabolism. T. versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 were capable of colonizing soil artificially contaminated with 430 mg kg(-1) of nonylphenol. Only 1.3 +/- 0.1% of nonylphenol remained in the soil after 5 weeks of incubation.