Estrogenic activity in five United Kingdom rivers detected by measurement of vitellogenesis in caged male trout

Abstract

Abstract-It was recently demonstrated that most, if not all, effluents of sewage-treatment works (STWs) in the United Kingdom are estrogenic to fish. As many STWs discharge into rivers, it is possible that some stretches of rivers downstream of where the effluent enters might also be estrogenic. To assess this possibility, the induction of vitellogenin synthesis in caged male trout placed at various distances downstream of the effluent entry point was used as a biomarker of estrogen exposure. Individual discharges into five rivers in England were studied. In four cases, fish placed in the neat effluent, or close to where it entered a river, showed very marked and rapid increases in their plasma vitellogenin concentrations, demonstrating that the effluent was estrogenic. In two of these four cases, none of the downstream sites were estrogenic, whereas in one of the four, fish placed at a site 1.5 km downstream did respond by synthesizing appreciable amounts of vitellogenin, although sites further downstream were not estrogenic. The situation in the fourth river was quite different; not only was the effluent extremely estrogenic (a maximum vitellogenin response in the mg/ml range was attained), but so were all the other study sites on the river, the last of which was 5 km downstream of where the effluent entered. This particular river receives trade effluent from wool-scouring mills, which contains much higher concentrations of alkylphenolic chemicals than any of the other discharges studied. It is suggested that these chemicals probably account for the estrogenic activity of this river. The final (fifth) river showed no estrogenic activity, not even in the neat effluent. This discharge comes from a very small STW, which receives no trade waste, and one or both of these factors may account for why the effluent (and hence the river) was not estrogenic.

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

“…One of the most reported biological effects is fish feminization found in various rivers (Angus et al, 2002;Harries et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 1998;Kristensen et al, 2007;Xie et al, 2010). The observed effects in fish include vitellogenin induction, abnormal development of gonads (Harries et al, 1997;Lye et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 2002) and secondary sexual characteristics (Batty and Lim, 1999;Xie et al, 2010), which have been linked to some estrogenic compounds in the effluents of sewage treatment plants (Harries et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 2002;Lye et al, 1997;Thorpe et al, 2003;Xie et al, 2010).…”

“…One of the most reported biological effects is fish feminization found in various rivers (Angus et al, 2002;Harries et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 1998;Kristensen et al, 2007;Xie et al, 2010). The observed effects in fish include vitellogenin induction, abnormal development of gonads (Harries et al, 1997;Lye et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 2002) and secondary sexual characteristics (Batty and Lim, 1999;Xie et al, 2010), which have been linked to some estrogenic compounds in the effluents of sewage treatment plants (Harries et al, 1997;Jobling et al, 2002;Lye et al, 1997;Thorpe et al, 2003;Xie et al, 2010). These compounds include 4-t-octylphenol (4-t-OP), 4-nonylphenols (4-NP), bisphenol-A (BPA), estrone (E1), estradiol (E2) and triclosan (TCS), which have been demonstrated to have in vitro and/or in vivo estrogenic activities (Foran et al, 2000;Ishibahsi et al, 2004;Jobling and Sumpter, 1993;Jobling et al, 1995;Raut and Angus, 2010;Stasinakis et al, 2008).…”

Screening of multiple hormonal activities in surface water and sediment from the Pearl River system, South China, using effect‐directed in vitro bioassays

“…Male fish feminization in receiving waters has been related to residual natural and synthetic estrogens from municipal STP effluents [8,9]. Effluents from pulp and paper mills displayed androgenic activity in female fish, leading to masculinization or sex reversal of female fish [10,11].…”

The occurrence, causes, and consequences of estrogens in the aquatic environment

“…That step was achieved by Harries et al [3,4], who quite remarkably demonstrated that a significant length of one river in northern England (the River Aire) was strongly estrogenic. That particular river was known to contain very high concentrations of nonylphenol (NP) and related chemicals, which are degradation products of one group of nonionic surfactants.…”

“…It would be difficult to think of a more environmentally relevant parameter than reproduction when attempting 2084 All Supplemental Data may be found in the online version of this article. See Table S1 for the number of citations and rank of all the ''Top 100'' papers, which in this essay are references [3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]19,20].…”