Input/output balance of estrogenic active compounds in a major municipal sewage plant in Germany

Effect-directed analysis (EDA) in aquatic ecotoxicology: state of the art and future challenges

“…Mass-balance estimates of all major compounds contributing to the observed effects can be calculated to elucidate if all of the activity has been identified, and to assess the potential for interactions such as synergism or antagonism among contaminants present in the complex mixtures (Hilscherova et al 2000;Korner et al 2000). This strategy has been widely used for dioxin-like compounds (Safe 1990; Van den Berg et al 1998), and has recently been adopted for estrogenic chemicals (Hilscherova et al 2000;Hollert et al 2005;Khim et al 1999c;Korner et al 2000). Finally, a confirmation step in the EDA procedure evaluates how much of the observed toxicity in the environmental sample can be attributed to the mixture of identified toxicants (Brack 2003).…”

The fate and behavior of selected endocrine disrupting chemicals in full scale wastewater and sludge treatment unit processes

“…A study of mass balance of estrogens in sewage treatment works (STW) in Germany demonstrated that most of the estrogenic activity in the wastewater was biodegraded during treatment rather than adsorbed onto suspended solids (Korner et al, 2000). In a study of Japanese STWs by Matsui et al (2000), it was shown that 10 % removal of E2 occurred across the primary sedimentation, 87 % across the nitrifying activated sludge and a further 22 % removal across the tertiary sand filters.…”

Chlorination by-products of bisphenol A enhanced retinoid X receptor disrupting effects

“…It is known that the reaction between phenolic compounds and sodium hypochlorite in solution is largely through electrophilic attack of HClO on the phenoxide ion. Based on this mechanism, a reasonable pathway of chlorination of BPA has been proposed (9,10). Briefly, BPA is chlorinated step-by-step to form MCBPA, DCBPA, T3CBPA and TCBPA.…”

“…For instance, human consumption of BPA from epoxy-lined food cans alone was estimated to be about 6.6 g per person per day [8]. BPA has been released into water by various means resulting in chronic exposure to both humans and animals [9]. Concentration of BPA in drinking water in Germany, Japan and the United States (U.S.) ranged from 0.0003 to 0.42 g/L [10].…”