Estrogenic effects in the influents and effluents of the drinking water treatment plants

Abstract

Estrogen-like endocrine disrupting compounds (EEDC) such as bisphenol A, nonylphenol, and phthalic acid esters are toxic compounds that may occur in both raw- and drinking water. The aim of this study was to combine chemical- and bioassay to evaluate the risk of EEDCs in the drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). Fifty-six samples were collected from seven DWTPs located in northern-, central-, and southern Taiwan from 2011 to 2012 and subjected to chemical analyses and two bioassay methods for total estrogenic activity (E-Screen and T47D-KBluc assay). Among of the considered EEDCs, only dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were detected in both drinking and raw water samples. DBP levels in drinking water ranged from <MDL to 0.840 μg/L and from <MDL to 0.760 μg/L in raw water. DEHP had higher detection rate (82.1 %) than other compounds and was present in both drinking water and raw water from all the DWTPs. The highest daily drinking water intake calculated for male and female were 0.0823 and 0.115 μg/kg per day. The two selected bioassays were conducted for the first batch of 56 samples and a detection rate of 23 % for estradiol equivalent (EEQ) lower than the LOQ to 1.3 and 15 % for EEQ lower than LOQ to 0.757 for the second 53 samples. Our results showed a good correlation between E-screen and chemical assay which indicates that a combination of both can be used in detecting EEDCs in environmental samples.

In vitro bioassays to assess drinking water quality

“…Estrogenic activity has been widely studied in treated drinking water using a range of in vitro assays [11][12][13][14][21][22][23][24][25], with an overview of reported activity provided in Figure 2. Many studies also measure estrogenic activity in source water and compare BEQ bio before and after treatment, with 39 to 99% removal of estrogenic activity reported [12,13,[23][24][25], which indicates the removal or degradation of causative compounds.…”

“…a Brand et al [29] (2/3 samples above limit of detection (LOD)), b Shi et al [12] (2/7 samples above LOD), c Gou et al [22] (maximum EEQ shown only), d Lv et al […”

Estrogenic activity, chemical levels and health risk assessment of municipal distribution point water from Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa

“…None of the samples showed antiestrogenic activity. Estrogenic activity was also detected in drinking water from Italy (Maggioni et al, 2013), Taiwan (Gou et al, 2016), The Netherlands (Brand et al, 2013) and the US (Stanford et al, 2010) using mammalian cell line assays, with EEq values ranging from below the level of quantification to 1.3 ng/L (Table 4).…”

Occurrence of multiclass endocrine disrupting compounds in a drinking water supply system and associated risks

“…The higher concentrations of testosterone, progesterone, estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-ethynylestradiol, primidone, diclofenac, triclosan, 4-octylphenol, and diazinon in tap water relative to those in river water may be potentially attributed to (1) EDC desorption during operation, (2) the presence of saturated absorbents with lower adsorption rates, (3) dissolution of EDC aggregates, and/or (4) the formation of parent compounds from metabolites 25,26 . Moreover, drinking water sources with a high content of EDCs (due to insufficient wastewater and sewage treatment with discharge of EDC-containing effluents to the influents of drinking water treatment plants) also impacted the efficiency of EDC removal in the drinking water supply 8,27 . Finally, contamination in the pipes, especially those treated by epoxy coating, contributed to the leaching of plasticizers into the drinking water supply 23 .…”