Comparison between estrogenicities estimated from DNA recombinant yeast assay and from chemical analyses of endocrine disruptors during sewage treatment

Abstract

This study discusses the estrogenicity and the extent of estrogenic effects, of sewage and treated sewage in public sewage treatment plants in Japan. The estrogenicity in this study was measured with a DNA recombinant yeast strain. Using this method, 43 chemicals that are suspected to have estrogen-like effects were measured and their estrogenicities were evaluated in terms of 17 beta-estradiol equivalents by comparison with the estrogenicity of 17 beta-estradiol. 17 beta-estradiol equivalents of influent and effluent sampled from 20 sewage treatment plants (STPs) were measured with this method. Because the concentrations of endocrine disruptors (EDs) in the STPs were monitored by the Ministry of Construction (MOC), the estrogenic effects estimated from the chemical data were obtained as a theoretical estrogenicity in terms of 17 beta-estradiol equivalent. The results suggest that STPs effectively reduce the estrogenicity and the theoretical estrogenicity during treatment, and that there were some differences between the estrogenicity assayed by the yeast and the theoretical estrogenicity in many STPs, particularly in influent sewage. Therefore, it is implied that unknown estrogen-like substances or antagonists might exist in influent sewage and treated sewage in STPs.

Monitoring of selected estrogenic compounds and estrogenic activity in surface water and sediment of the Yellow River in China using combined chemical and biological tools

“…Some water extracts exerted toxicity to the yeast cells during the bioassay, which affected development of color and further measurement of EEQ. Similar toxic effects on yeast cells have been reported previously in wastewater (Tanaka et al, 2001) and surface water (Witters et al, 2001).…”

“…This can be explained by the presence of unknown antagonists in the water samples (Tanaka et al, 2001;Witters et al, 2001). Some water extracts exerted toxicity to the yeast cells during the bioassay, which affected development of color and further measurement of EEQ.…”

Assessment of hormonal activities and genotoxicity of industrial effluents using in vitro bioassays combined with chemical analysis

“…However, from the slope of the modeling equation, we could see that the calculated EEQs from chemical analysis were higher than the measured EEQs by the YES bioassay. This suggests that some unknown compounds present in the effluents could have antagonistic action on the estrogenic activities of estrogenic compounds, which has been reported in the literature [49,50]. In fact, anti-estrogenic effects were observed in most industrial effluents (Table 1), which, to some extent, supports the viewpoint.…”

Preliminary Study on the Removal of Steroidal Estrogens Using TiO2-Doped PVDF Ultrafiltration Membranes

“…The disrupting activity of E2 is 1000-10,000 times greater than that of nonylphenol [3]. The hormone activity of E1, a metabolite of E2, is 0.2-0.5 times than that of E2 [3]. These pollutants have potential for high risk because they can show strong biological effects, even at very low concentrations (10´1 2 -10´9 mg/L), which could cause human body or animal reproductive dysfunction, abnormal behavior and larval mutations, etc.…”

“…Estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2) examined in the present study are both typical estrogens and, in fact, have greater endocrine-disrupting activities. The disrupting activity of E2 is 1000-10,000 times greater than that of nonylphenol [3]. The hormone activity of E1, a metabolite of E2, is 0.2-0.5 times than that of E2 [3].…”