Analysis of 17-β-estradiol and 17-α-ethinylestradiol in biological and environmental matrices — A review

Abstract

The estrogens 17-β-estradiol (E2) and 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are reported as highly endocrine-disrupting agents, being recently included in an EU watch list regarding emerging aquatic pollutants. Therefore, the monitoring of these chemicals in the different environmental compartments assumes great importance. Moreover, due to the possible adverse effects on living beings, their occurrence on animal tissues and fluids must also be addressed. In recent years, a significant number of studies have described and proposed different analytical methodologies to detect and/or quantify E2 and EE2 mostly in environmental aqueous samples, including sludge and sediments and also in biological matrices such as plasma and tissues. Taking into account the complexity of real matrices and that both estrogens are generally present at trace levels, the development of accurate and reliable techniques for their determination can be quite a challenge. The present review aims at describing the main characteristics of the analytical methods recently used for E2 and EE2 determination in environmental and biological samples. The steps for sample preparation such as analytes extraction, preconcentration and clean-up are discussed and the instrumental based analytical techniques are compared. Furthermore, the application of biological tools to determine the total estrogenicity of environmental samples, as well as their potential combination with instrumental analyses, is highlighted.

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“…Ethinyl Estradiol is excreted in the urine and feces as glucuronide and sulfate conjugates, and it undergoes enter hepatic recirculation. Literature surveys of the drug shows that HPLC [6][7][8][9][10] LC-MS [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and GC-MS 20 methods for the determination of Ethinyl Estradiol in human plasma and in pharmaceutical formulations either as a single and in combination with other drugs. The various published method of analysis is available but the proposed method is optimized to quantify at very low concentration (pg/mL), and suitable for the various laboratory conditions (Fig.…”

Sensitive Estrogens Determination in Wastewater Samples by HPLC and Fluorescence Detection

“…Excessive population growth with the inefficient wastewater collection, particularly in developing countries, low treatment efficiency and inadequate sewage disposal, are the common causes of water contamination. 1 Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), especially estrogens, are chemical species that have negative activity on the endocrine system in humans 2,3 and animals. 4,5 Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) are estrogens naturally produced by mammals and excreted mainly by pregnant and menstrual women via urine and feces.…”

“…4,5 Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) are estrogens naturally produced by mammals and excreted mainly by pregnant and menstrual women via urine and feces. 1 Otherwise, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a synthetic estrogen widely used as contraceptive and for therapeutic purposes such menopausal syndrome and prostate cancer control. 6 Despite of being unregulated contaminants in environmental waters, they have already been included in the New Contaminant Candidate List-3 of the U.S.…”

Determination of steroidal oestrogens in tap water samples using solid-phase extraction on a molecularly imprinted polymer sorbent and quantification with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

“…Human and animal excretion with subsequent discharging into the surface waters via municipal and industrial sewage treatment plants is considered as the main source of these chemicals in aquatic ecosystems (Andersson and Skakkebaek 1999;Beardmore et al 2001). Continuous release of oestrogens into the environment raises a toxicological concern, and several studies report the presence of these endocrine disruptors in drinking water resources (Barreiros et al 2016). Despite the excretion of oestrogens mainly as biologically inactive conjugates, there are reports on the reversion of these substances to active form by the enzymatic action of microorganisms in sewage treatment facilities and in natural ecosystems (D'Ascenzo et al 2007).…”

“…Several analytical protocols have been developed for the quantitative determination of oestro gens in environmental samples, although sensitivity, selectivity and laboriousness of these methods differ to a certain degree on the extraction, cleanup and detection techniques used (Barreiros et al 2016). Biological assays were proposed for the screening of steroidal oestrogens in various types of water samples as a less expensive alternative to confirmatory analytical methods such as gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS).…”