In vivo and in vitro assessment of the androgenic potential of a pulp and paper mill effluent

Abstract

Abstract-The androgenic potential of a New Zealand pulp and paper mill effluent was measured by applying a combinatioll of in vitro and in vivo bioassays with mosquitofish (Gambusia a!finis) and goldfish (Carassius aurarus). The in vivo method assessed the rate of gonopodial development (masculinization) and alterations from normal reproductive behavior in adult female mosqllitofish exposed for 21 d to lIntreated 01' secondary-treated pulp mill effluent. A second in vivo mosquitofish exposure tested the effect of gl ass-fiber (type C) fi Itration of secondary-treated effIlient on rates of expression of the same endpoints. Extractable organics analyses of effluents and extracts thereof were conducted. Mosqllitofish demonstrated significant masculinization on exposure to either treated 01' untreated effluent; the frequency of gonopodial development was reduced with efiluent secondary-treatment. Male mating behavior was observed in the masculinized adult females. Glass-fiber (type F) filtration of the treated effluent eliminated the masclilinizing effect, suggesting that the bioactive compounds were associated with the suspended solids. The in vitra method measlired the binding of compounds within a treated thermomechanicallbleached kraft cffluent extract to androgen receptors contained in goldfish testis cytosol. Exposure to extracts of either the particulate (glass-fiber filtered) 01' the dissolved organic fraction of the efflllent produced significant binding (as indicated by the displacement of radiolabeled testosterone) to the androgen reeeptor in goldfish gonadal tissue. Thus, the dissolved organics extract of the treated effluent contained compounds androgenic to goldfish in vitro but not to mosquitofish in vivo. The combined in vitra and in vivo data suggest that the effluent in question could exert effects on the reproductive physiology of fishes through an androgenic mechanism. The androgenic compounds androstenedione and testosterone were not detected in the extracts used far the in vitro component of this study.

Endocrine potency of wastewater: Contents of endocrine disrupting chemicals and effects measured by in vivo and in vitro assays

“…Androgen activity has previously been reported in effluents from pulp and paper mills [45] and recently also from wastewater [1,6,9]. When comparing the observed AR activity from influent and effluent samples, we found that treatment of the wastewater in both STPs reduced the AR activity, as also previously reported [6,9].…”

Predicting the concentration range of unmonitored chemicals in wastewater-dominated streams and in run-off from biosolids-amended soils

“…These compounds have been linked to androgenic effects in aquatic organisms caused either directly or as breakdown products of the parental sterols (Ellis et al, 2003; Jenkins et al, 2003; Orrego et al, 2009). Similar to phytosterols, cholesterol and related compounds have long been suspected of causing androgenic effects or giving rise to compounds that have androgenic effects (Ellis et al, 2003; Jenkins et al, 2003). More specifically, androstenedione, a microbial transformation product of phytosterols and cholesterol, is a known androgen (Jenkins et al, 2004).…”

Urban effluent discharges as causes of public and environmental health concerns in South Africa’s aquatic milieu

“…Long-term exposures of fish to effluents and sewages have been linked to altered haematological parameters by disrupting haematopoiesis, consequently resulting in anaemia condition (Nikinmaa and Oikari 1992;Ellis et al 2003). Due to lipid solubility of heavy metals and their resistance to several degenerative processes in animal tissue (Miranda et al 2008), fishes are known to bioaccumulate these pollutants to considerably higher concentrations than those found in the water around them (Allison and Paul 2014).…”