Occurrence and fate of androgens, estrogens, glucocorticoids and progestagens in two different types of municipal wastewater treatment plants

Abstract

The occurrence and fate of fourteen androgens, four estrogens, five glucocorticoids and five progestagens were investigated in two different types of wastewater treatment plants (Plant A: activated sludge with chlorination, and Plant B: oxidation ditch with UV) of Guangdong province, China. 14, 14, and 10 of 28 target compounds were detected in the influent, effluent and dewatered sludge samples with the concentrations ranging from below 1.respectively. The concentrations of total androgens (1554-1778 ng L À1 in influent, 13.3-47.8 ng L À1 in effluent, 377-923 ng g À1 in dewatered sludge) were much higher than those of total estrogens (41.5-60.2 ng L À1 in influent, 5.6-13.5 ng L À1 in effluent, 13.9-57.8 ng g À1 in dewatered sludge), glucocorticoids (171-192 ng L À1 in influent, 2.2-6.3 ng L À1 in effluent, N.D.-4.4 ng g À1 in dewatered sludge), and progestagens (39.6-40.5 ng L À1 in influent, 6.9-12.1 ng L À1 in effluent, N.D. in dewatered sludge) in these two WWTPs. According to mass balance analysis, the removal rates of most target steroids in Plant A had exceeded 90%, while those in Plant B for nearly half of detected target steroids were lower than 80%. It is obvious that the treatment capacity of the activated sludge system (Plant A) is superior to the oxidation ditch (Plant B) in the degradation of steroids in sewage treatment systems. Androgens, estrogens and progestagens were mainly removed by sorption and degradation, while the reduction of glucocorticoids was primarily due to degradation.

Degradation of Norgestrel by Bacteria from Activated Sludge: Comparison to Progesterone

“…21−23 However, for progestagens, most studies were focused on their concentrations in different treatment units and their aqueous phase removal rates in WWTPs, as well as their concentrations in receiving waters. 3,5,12,13,16,24 Only one study by Chang et al 13 reported the degradation kinetics of some progestagens with aerobic sludge. Up to now, there have been no detailed studies on biodegradation of the synthetic progestogen norgestrel, which has been detected at concentrations up to 10.8 μg/L in wastewater.…”

A time‐course transcriptional kinetics of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axes in zebrafish eleutheroembryos after exposure to norgestrel

“…Progestins have been detected in surface waters [9][10][11] and wastewaters [12][13][14]. Norgestrel was found in surface water at concentrations up to 22 ng L À1 [11] and in municipal wastewater-treatment plant effluents at concentrations up to 11 ng L À1 [13]. In addition, norgestrel is often used to control the pregnancy time of animals in the livestock industry and has detected in wastewaters of swine and dairy cattle farms with concentrations up to 10 800 ng L…”

Fate and occurrence of steroids in swine and dairy cattle farms with different farming scales and wastes disposal systems

“…Sedimentation tank is always used as a pretreatment process in WWTPs and makes less contribution in reducing steroids in wastewater Liu et al, 2012). Most steroids in the sedimentation tank effluents of farms C1 and C2 showed some concentration reduction compared with loafing area wastewater, but some still had high concentration levels, which even exceeds mg/L (Table 3).…”

“…Various steroids have been reported in different environmental matrices, such as in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Liu et al, , 2012Ying et al, 2009), aquatic environments Zhao et al, 2010), livestock farms (Lange et al, 2002), and wastewater irrigated soils . Humans (e.g., human urine and feces) and livestock (e.g., animal manure and wastewater) are the main sources of steroids releasing into the environment.…”

“…Unfortunately, many previous studies in the literature focused their attentions on the human source of steroids from WWTPs Liu et al, 2012;Ternes et al, 1999a;Ying et al, 2008a). Only recently, the livestock source of steroids started drawing some interests, mainly in some natural steroids such as estrogens, with few studies on glucocorticoids, and synthetic steroids used in the livestock industry (Gadd et al, 2010;Hanselman et al, 2003;Kolodziej et al, 2004;Lange et al, 2002;Zheng et al, 2008).…”