Determination of Estrogen Activity in River Waters and Wastewater in Luxembourg by Chemical Analysis and the Yeast Estrogen Screen Assay

Abstract

In many cases, only selected well-known target chemicals are analysed and used for a comparison with biological effects. Predicting the environmental impact of different chemical compounds does often fail. Effects are the result of mixture toxicity of single chemicals and their degraded products, which can have different biological potency and bioavailability. In vitro toxicity or mechanism-based assays are used as screening tools, prior to extended evaluation in animals or natural populations, or even prior to chemical monitoring. This study illustrates the use of the yeast bioassay to investigate the presence of compounds or chemicals with estrogenic activity in wastewater and surface water in Luxembourg and compares results with chemical measurements. Although the approach described in this paper has already been published in many case studies before, it confirms earlier findings and it delivers results for Luxembourg where similar analyses have not been documented so far. By comparison of the biological signal in the yeast assay, expressed as estrogen equivalents, with available results by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for steroid hormones we could only obtain a similar ranking for the majority of samples with low or high estrogenic activity. Measurements can therefore only be used as a screening tool for estrogenic activity. Seasonal changes as apparent for chemical results in surface waters were confirmed in the yeast assay. Dissolved estrone is diluted by higher discharge in the rivers during winter containing larger amounts of unpolluted soil water and groundwater runoff.

Bioprofiling of Surface/Wastewater and Bioquantitation of Discovered Endocrine-Active Compounds by Streamlined Direct Bioautography

“…The detection of EDCs is performed partly by analytical methods such as gas chromatography (GC) , and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ,− usually coupled with mass spectrometry (MS), but also associated by biological methods, which are divided into in vitro and in vivo investigations. The most common in vitro investigations are proliferation studies with cell lines such as human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), receptor binding assays, and different yeast estrogen screens (YES). − The in vivo studies include the determination of the vitellogenin content in the plasma of male animals as well as research on reproductive organs and bioaccumulation of (xeno)­estrogens. ,,− In most cases, the sample preparation is carried out by solid-phase extraction, on the one hand to separate the interfering matrix, and on the other to achieve an enrichment of the EDCs. While a chromatographic analysis gives no indication as to the bioactivity in the sample, the biological methods provide only some parameters of the examined water samples.…”

Estrogenic Activity Assessment in Environmental Matrices by Means of In Vitro Cell‐Based Bioassays Coupled With Molecular Investigation

“…For instance, 17‐β‐estradiol, estrone, and 17α‐ethinylestradiol were the dominant estrogens in a sample of an effluent from sewage treatment as reported by a study of seven WWTPs in Sweden . Also, potent estrogenic substances in sewage effluent may be derived mainly from excreta of humans and livestock, agricultural fields or industrial discharge into WWTPs . Sewage may also contain alkylphenols used to manufacture flame retardants, household surfactants, pesticide formulas, industrial products, and polycarbonate and epoxy resins.…”

“…Previous studies have assessed the presence of EDCs in environmental matrices [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The endocrine effects of these chemicals in organisms may be caused by mimicking endogenous hormones such as estrogen.…”

Pollution by endocrine disrupting estrogens in aquatic ecosystems in Morogoro urban and peri-urban areas in Tanzania

“…Feminization or demasculinisations of molluscs, arthropods and fish have been reported in polluted lakes or rivers (Guillette et al, 2007;Krein et al, 2012). Effects shown in wildlife or experimental animals may also occur in humans if they are exposed to EDCs at a vulnerable time and at concentrations leading to alterations of endocrine regulation (UNEP and WHO, 2012;Bhandari et al, 2014).…”