Occurrence of Phenolic Endocrine Disruptors in Danube Delta, Romania

Abstract

In the last decade, the use of chemical compounds with a molecular structure similar to that of BPA has been reported more and more as alternatives to BPA in various industrial products. This comes as a result of banning partial or total use of BPA because of its endocrine disrupting properties. However, bisphenol analogues have been shown to have similar or even greater negative properties than BPA. Thus, particular attention has been given to the risks they have for aquatic systems and human health. In this context, the present study aimed to determine the concentration level at which some of the bisphenol analogues (BPS, BPB, BPE, BPC and BPE), BPA and its major metabolite, 4-HAP, are found in surface waters. For this purpose, 11 sampling points were established in the geographical area of the Danube Delta. Among the seven targeted pollutants, only four were detected in the analyzed samples. 4-HAP metabolite was the most abundant compound in the analyzed samples, with concentrations ranging from 3.56 to 30.9 ng/L. BPA concentrations were, in most cases approximately three times lower than those determined for 4-HAP. The next bisphenol analog after 4-HAP, in the decreasing order of concentrations, was BPE, for which the concentration level ranged between LOQ and 12.4 ng/L. Lowest concentrations were detected for BPS, with a maximum level of 1.96 ng/L.

Emerging and Persistent Pollutants in the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Lower Danube Basin and North West Black Sea Region—A Review

“…Multiresidue methods allowing targeted (quantitative) and non-targeted (qualitative) screening should become standard procedures for CECs analysis as well as combining analytical methods with metabolomics for the identification of uncommon chemicals, metabolites, and degradation product(s); -To determine and predict trends, multivariate statistical methods (factor analysis of principal component analysis (PCA) were applied as well as indicators of pollution status, as Hazard Quotient (HQ), Enrichment Factor (EF), Geo-accumulation index (Igeo), and Ecological risk index (RI) were determined in several papers concerning persistent pollutants as PAHs, OCPs, and metals [2,46,51,84,100,107,121,144]; -Regarding CECs, the basis for risk assessment was rarely discussed. Risk coefficients (RQ) value based on the ratio of the Predicted/Measured Environmental Concentration (PEC/MEC) and Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) was performed in three papers for endocrine disruptors [61,68,69] and in one for pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other CECs [26]; the fate of pesticides in sediments and risk assessment according to their physico-chemical properties was discussed in one paper [44]; -Spatial distribution of the contaminants was highlighted in several publications [45,49,53,61,100]; -Pollution emission sources were investigated for PAHs [96], OPCs [94], pharmaceuticals [51,53], and heavy metals [106,126,128,156]. Untreated and inadequate treated waste water was demonstrated as being the main source of organic pollution in the low Danube basin.…”