Occurrence of estrogenic chemicals in South Korean surface waters and municipal wastewaters

Abstract

Broad scale monitoring of estrogenic compounds was performed at 19 sampling points throughout the Yeongsan and Seomjin river basins and 5 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) adjacent to the Gwangju area, Korea, from December 2005 to August 2007. The concentrations of estrogenic compounds, including estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), bisphenol-A, nonylphenol (NP) and 4-octylphenol (OP), in the samples was measured with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition, the estrogenic activities throughout the river were investigated using the E-screen assay. Of the six estrogenic chemicals, NP (114.6-336.1 ng L(-1)) and EE2 (0.23-1.90 ng L(-1)) were detected at the highest and lowest levels, respectively in both the river waters and the WWTP effluents. Bisphenol-A showed the largest concentration range, from 7.5 to 335 ng L(-1). The concentrations of E1, E2 and octylphenol ranges were 3.6-69.1, 1.2-10.7, and 2.2-16.9 ng L(-1), respectively. According to the calculated estradiol equivalent concentration (EEQ); however, no estrogenic contribution was observed due to the phenolic compounds in the river waters and effluents. E1 and E2 dominated in both the river water and effluent samples, with contributions to the calculated EEQ of over 79 and 77%, respectively. Conversely, EE2 was rarely detected in the river waters (21%) and effluents (0%). The largest contribution of EE2 to the calculated EEQ was 21% in the river water at S-7. The levels of E1, E2, and EE2 were remarkably decreased in the effluents, indicating that the 5 WWTPs did not contribute to the estrogenic effect of the receiving streams. Overall, the WWTPs did not contributed to the estrogenic activity of the receiving waters, but the livestock industry or wildlife may play an important role in the estrogenic contribution to river water.

Assessment of source water contamination by estrogenic disrupting compounds in China

“…It should be noted, however, that few studies on estrogenic activity in source waters, and the compounds involved in such activity, have been undertaken in China. The E2 equivalent (EEQ) approach, which has been proved to be effective in the identification of EDCs in water, was introduced in the present study (Ra et al, 2011). By assessing causal links between activities observed by means of bioassay and chemical levels by chemical analysis, the relevant estrogenic compounds can be identified.…”

Determination of estrogens and estrogenic activities in water from three rivers in Tianjin, China

“…Six estrogens including estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-ethinylestradiol, estriol, diethylstilbestroland estradiol valerate (Lu et al, 2010), which were most frequently discovered EDCs in water bodies of China, were selected. To identify the main contributors to the estrogenic activities of the rivers, 17β-estradiol equivalent (EEQ) approach was introduced in the present study (Ra et al, 2011). Therefore, the aim of the present work was to screen the level of estrogenic activities in three rivers in Tianjin and identify the specific compounds responsible for the estrogenic activities, so as to provide useful information to protect the marine ecosystem of the Bohai Sea.…”

E2, an Aquatic Hazard Worldwide

“…Although studies in the UK have did not detect estrogenic compounds in drinking water (Harries et al, 1996;Harries et al, 1997), they were detected in raw domestic sewage discharged into rivers (Desbrow et al, 1998;Rujiralai et al, 2011) and waste water in South Korea in ranges of 1.2-10.7 ng L -1 (Ra et al, 2011), China (Liu et al, 2011;Lu et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2011), The Netherlands (Belfroid et al, 2006), Italy (Pojana et al, 2004;Pojana et al, 2007), Germany (Körner et al, 2001;Matsumoto et al, 2005;Hintemann et al, 2006) and was also detected in the drinking water in some parts of USA (Caldwell et al, 2009), as summurized in Table 2. 4.63 μg/kg Crucian (Zou et al, 2007) 0.08 mg/g Tilapia (Jiang et al, 2009) 4.7 μg/kg Greasy-back shrimp (Zou et al, 2007) 0.0783 mg/g Prawn (Jiang et al, 2009) 26.4-77.1 ng/L Surface water (Hintemann et al, 2006) 4.1 × 10 3 ng/L Sewage 12 ng/L Effluent from (STP) (Rujiralai et al, 2011) Nd Waste water (Liu et al, 2011) 1.2-10.7 ng/L WWTP (Ra et al, 2011) 75.2 ng/L bottled mineral water, Germany (Wagner & Oehlmann, 2009) 0.8-150 ng/L Water, Netherlands (Vethaak et al, 2005) 0.06-67 pM River water, Japan (Matsumoto et al, 2005) 1-191 ng/L effluents from sewage treatment plants (Pojana et al, 2004) Sediment 200 pg/g Fresh water sediment (Petrovic et al, 2001) 0.3 μg/kg Lake Temsah (Elnwishy et al, 2012) 0.9-2.6 ng/g River sediment (Gong et al, 2011) 3.1-289 μg/kg Sediment (Pojana et al, 2004) Big animals 4-28 ng/g Cattle Manure (Andaluri et al, 2011) 104-262 μg/kg Dairy cattle feces (Wei et al, 2011) 45-926 μg/kg Beef cattle f...…”

“…Estradiol can act as natural estrogens in human bodies by binding to estrogen receptors in the endocrine system (Ra et al, 2011). Some of these chemicals are suspected to cause human infertility or influence the development of children, or harm the reproductive processes (Guillette & Gunderson, 2001).…”

“…4.63 μg/kg Crucian (Zou et al, 2007) 0.08 mg/g Tilapia (Jiang et al, 2009) 4.7 μg/kg Greasy-back shrimp (Zou et al, 2007) 0.0783 mg/g Prawn (Jiang et al, 2009) 26.4-77.1 ng/L Surface water (Hintemann et al, 2006) 4.1 × 10 3 ng/L Sewage 12 ng/L Effluent from (STP) (Rujiralai et al, 2011) Nd Waste water (Liu et al, 2011) 1.2-10.7 ng/L WWTP (Ra et al, 2011) 75.2 ng/L bottled mineral water, Germany (Wagner & Oehlmann, 2009) 0.8-150 ng/L Water, Netherlands (Vethaak et al, 2005) 0.06-67 pM River water, Japan (Matsumoto et al, 2005) 1-191 ng/L effluents from sewage treatment plants (Pojana et al, 2004) Sediment 200 pg/g Fresh water sediment (Petrovic et al, 2001) 0.3 μg/kg Lake Temsah (Elnwishy et al, 2012) 0.9-2.6 ng/g River sediment (Gong et al, 2011) 3.1-289 μg/kg Sediment (Pojana et al, 2004) Big animals 4-28 ng/g Cattle Manure (Andaluri et al, 2011) 104-262 μg/kg Dairy cattle feces (Wei et al, 2011) 45-926 μg/kg Beef cattle feces (Wei et al, 2011) 40 pgm/L Male bovine (Biddle et al, 2007) 44 pgm/L Females bovine (Biddle et al, 2007) Also, it was detected in prawn and fish (Jiang et al, 2009), Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius, bivalves and snails (Zou et al, 2007), and in shellfish in France (Lagadic et al, 2007). Estrogens were detected in Llobregat catchment area in Spain in water samples at low levels between 2-5 ng L -1 (Brix et al, 2010).…”