Exposure assessment of 17α‐ethinylestradiol in surface waters of the United States and Europe

Abstract

An evaluation of measured and predicted concentrations of 17-ethinylestradiol in surface waters of the United States and Europe was conducted to develop expected long-term exposure concentrations for this compound. Measured environmental concentrations (MECs) in surface waters were identified from the literature. Predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were generated for European and U.S. watersheds using the GREAT-ER and PhATE models, respectively. The majority of MECs are nondetect and generally consistent with model PECs and conservative mass balance calculations. However, the highest MECs are not consistent with concentrations derived from conservative (worst-case) mass balance estimates or model PECs. A review of analytical methods suggests that tandem or high-resolution mass spectrometry methods with extract cleanup result in lower detection limits and lower reported concentrations consistent with model predictions and bounding estimates. Based on model results using PhATE and GREAT-ER, the 90th-percentile low-flow PECs in surface water are approximately 0.2 and 0.3 ng/L for the United States and Europe, respectively. These levels represent conservative estimates of long-term exposure that can be used for risk assessment purposes. Our analysis also indicates that average concentrations are one to two orders of magnitude lower than these 90th-percentile estimates. Higher reported concentrations (e.g., greater than the 99th-percentile PEC of approximately 1 ng/L) could result from methodological problems or unusual environmental circumstances; however, such concentrations are not representative of levels generally found in the environment, warrant special scrutiny, and are not appropriate for use in risk assessments of long-term exposures.

Populations of a cyprinid fish are self-sustaining despite widespread feminization of males

“…Female fecundity can also be reduced through estrogen exposure, which can potentially reduce population growth rates [22]. Although the exposure concentrations in these studies were high compared to those typically experienced by wild fish populations [23], exposures to EE 2 at concentrations below 1 ng/L during the period of sexual development, have been shown to result in feminized gonads in roach [19] and decreased egg fertilization and female-skewed sex ratios in fathead minnows [24]. Evidence from wild roach living in UK rivers has similarly shown that feminized fish (generally less than 10% of males) with large numbers of eggs in their gonads have impaired semen quality [25] and severely (up to 76%) reduced reproductive success [26].…”

Developmental exposure of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to 17α-ethinylestradiol affects non-reproductive behavior and fertility as adults, and increases anxiety in unexposed progeny

“…EE 2 is the main component of most contraceptive pills, and is released into the environment through waste water at concentrations ranging from below detectable levels up to 200-300 ng/L (Hannah et al, 2009;Kolpin et al, 2002;Laurenson et al, 2014;Ternes et al, 1999). The doses currently released into the environment have been shown to be harmful to aquatic animals (Aris et al, 2014), with a predicted noeffect-concentration for aquatic organisms at 0.1 ng/L (Caldwell et al, 2012).…”

Characterization of BiOX compounds as photocatalysts for the degradation of pharmaceuticals in water

“…These catalysts were compared to more conventional catalysts including TiO 2 . The synthetic estrogens: 171␣-ethinyl estradiol and estriol were selected as model compounds for study because they are of concern to federal and state environmental protection agencies and EPA [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The degradation rates and mechanisms were compared based on catalyst type.…”

“…HPLC-MS/MS is a favored choice for mechanism development because there is no need for solvent extraction that remove or complex with degradation products. The particular HPLC-MS/MS method has been successfully used by the Patterson group and others for pharmaceuticals and other organics in water [4,8,[36][37][38][39][40]. The mechanisms for the degradation of each pharmaceutical were compared based on catalyst type and duration of UV exposure.…”