Determination and ecological risk assessment of two endocrine disruptors from River Buffalo, South Africa

Abstract

4-tert-Octylphenol (4-tOP) and triclosan (TCS) are endocrine disruptors which have been detected in environmental matrices such as air, soil and water at ultra-low levels. Exposure to endocrine disruptors may account at least in part, for the global increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases like cancers and diabetes and may also lead to an imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem. River Buffalo is an important natural resource in the Eastern Cape of South Africa serving more than half a million people. The presence of the two compounds in the river water hitherto unknown was investigated during winter seasons using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometric techniques. The sampling points differed by some physicochemical parameters. The concentration of 4-tOP ranged 0–755 ng/L, median value 88.1 ng/L while that of TCS ranged 0–1264.2 ng/L and the median value was 82.1 ng/L. Hazard quotient as an index of exposure risk varied according to daphnids ˃ fish ˃ algae for 4-tOP exposure while HQ for TCS exposure was algae > daphnids = fish showing that both compounds were capable of causing imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem.

Development of a GIS-based knowledge hub for contaminants of emerging concern in South African water resources using open-source software: Lessons learnt

“…Based on literature a total of six studies have been performed, the ranges detected were between bdl and the highest at Bridle Drift Dam in the Eastern Cape (1264.2 ng/L) [ 60 ]. Other studies focused on wastewater treatment plants discharge in cities with only a few on rural settlements and hospitals with a focus on the release from PPCPs.…”

Simultaneous Quantification of Bisphenol-A and 4-Tert-Octylphenol in the Live Aquaculture Feed Artemia franciscana and in Its Culture Medium Using HPLC-DAD

“…The peak that appears at 19.7 ( Figure 2 B and Figure 3 B) is evident only following administration of t-OCT and might correspond to a photodegradation product, since similar peaks were observed during the photodegradation experiment ( Figure S3D ). Photodegradation via photolysis has been confirmed for BPA [ 25 , 27 ] and for t-OCT [ 87 ], and the products of solar transformation presented higher toxicity than the parent compound [ 88 ]. The feeding experiments were conducted under normal light and, hence, photodegradation losses were estimated to examine whether any pollutant concentration decline is due to photolysis.…”

Occurrence and Fate of Triclosan and Triclocarban in Selected Wastewater Systems across Durban Metropolis, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…The measured concentrations of TCS and TCC in the sample obtained in influent and effluent samples collected across four wastewater treatment plants within the Durban metropolis were used for the RQ evaluation in this study. The predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) adopted from previous studies conducted in South African rivers was adopted in this study [ 41 , 42 ]. The RQ and RI values were obtained using Equations (1) and (2), respectively: where EC is the environmental concentrations of TCS and TCC in the influent and effluent samples, PNEC is the predicted no effect concentration, and DF is the dilution factor when the effluent is being discharged into the surface water systems, which in this case was taken to be 3 [ 41 ].…”