Bioconcentration and depuration of ¹⁴C‐labeled 17α‐ethinyl estradiol and 4‐nonylphenol in individual organs of the marine bivalve Mytilus edulis L.

Abstract

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), enter coastal environments primarily in effluents of wastewater treatment facilities and have become ubiquitous in marine surface waters, sediments, and biota. Although EE2 and 4-NP have been detected in marine shellfish, the kinetics of bioconcentration and their tissue distribution have not been thoroughly investigated. The authors performed bioconcentration and depuration experiments in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, with 3.37 nM EE2 (0.999 μg/L) and 454 nM 4-NP (100.138 µg/L). Mussels and seawater were sampled throughout a 38-d exposure and a 35-d depuration period, and 6 tissues were individually assayed. Uptake of EE2 and 4-NP was curvilinear throughout exposure and followed a similar uptake pattern: digestive gland > gill ≥ remaining viscera > gonad > adductor > plasma. Depuration varied, however, with half-lives ranging from 2.7 d (plasma) to 92 d (gill) for EE2 and 15 d (plasma) to 57 d (gill) for 4-NP. An innovative modeling approach, with 3 coupled mathematical models, was developed to differentiate the unique roles of the gill and plasma in distributing the EDCs to internal tissues. Plasma appears pivotal in regulating EDC uptake and depuration within the whole mussel.

Bioaccumulation of estrogenic hormones and UV-filters in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)

“…The observed K d values of E1, E2, and EE2 were similar to previous reports for activated sludge (Andersen et al 2005;Clara et al 2004). In general, the change in aqueous-phase concentration between dosing events can be attributed to abiotic transformation (Liu and Liu 2004;Silva et al 2012), metabolism (Ivanov et al 2010;Welshons et al 2003), sorption to sediment (Andersen et al 2005), and accumulation in biota (Dussault et al 2009a;Ricciardi et al 2016). Because the aqueous-and fecal matter-phase concentrations followed the same trends, some combination of the above processes likely manifested; however, the degradation pathways were not specifically elucidated in this work.…”

“…(2). Although bioaccumulation of E1 (Gomes et al 2004;Lai et al 2002) andEE2 (Al-Ansari et al 2013;Dussault et al 2009a;Ricciardi et al 2016) has been observed in previous laboratory exposure experiments, the reported BAFs vary over a wide range for different organisms. Lai et al (2002) reported a BAF of 27 L kg −1 for E1 in a green microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) over 48 h with an aqueous-phase concentration around 2 μg L −1 .…”

“…Hopkins and Blaney (2016) reported that UV-filter concentrations in raw wastewater, wastewater effluent, and surface water were as high as 20.2, 16.0, and 7.3 μg L −1 , respectively. Most estrogens and UV-filters are moderately hydrophobic (i.e., log D = 3-7) and known to bioaccumulate in aquatic vertebrates (Blüthgen et al 2014;Gago-Ferrero et al 2013;Gago-Ferrero et al 2015), but the uptake of these EDCs and the resulting impacts on aquatic invertebrates are not well understood (Meredith-Williams et al 2012;Ricciardi et al 2016).…”

“…Three priority estrogens, namely estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), and EE2, and five widely used UV-filters, including 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC), benzophenone-3 (BP-3, or oxybenzone), 2-ethylhexyl-4methoxycinnamate (EHMC, or octinoxate), homosalate (HMS), and octocrylene (OC), were selected for this study. These compounds were chosen due to their hydrophobicity (log D > 3; ChemAxon, 2018) and potential to accumulate in aquatic organisms (Dussault et al 2009a;Fent et al 2010;Gago-Ferrero et al 2013;He et al 2019;Huerta et al 2015;Langford et al 2015;Ricciardi et al 2016). E1, E2, EE2, and EHMC were included in the European Union Watch List of chemicals that pose a significant risk to the aquatic environment (European Union 2013;European Union, 2015).…”

Pharmaceuticals in the environment: An introduction to the ET&C special issue

“…Research focus previously has been on freshwater systems, and marine ecosystems have been identified here as being underrepresented and requiring further investigation . This is particularly important in coastal environments, where human impacts are pronounced and dynamic, in terms of daily physicochemical cycles; the use of innovative methods for examining bioavailability and potential risks to marine organisms is therefore highly desirable . In addition, the terrestrial environment increasingly is receiving attention, especially with respect to crop exposure through wastewater and biosolids application.…”