Temporal Variation in the Estrogenicity of a Sewage Treatment Plant Effluent and Its Biological Significance

Martinović, Dalma; Denny, Jeffrey S.; Schmieder, Patricia K.; Ankley, Gerald T.; Sorensen, Peter W.

doi:10.1021/es0708013

Cited by 57 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Other factors including sampling time and individual water consumption are also very important. We collected samples between 9 and 11 o'clock; however, previous research has reported that highest estrogenic activities appeared at 10 o'clock in WWTP effluent from the USA (Martinović et al 2008). Chang et al (2011) reported a lower influent concentration of E1 and E2, which was determined according to 24 h composite samples.…”

Section: Levels Of Steroid Estrogens In Wwtp Influent and Effluentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Occurrence and fate of steroid estrogens in the largest wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China

Zhou

Zha

Wang

2011

Environ Monit Assess

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Concern over steroid estrogens has increased rapidly in recent years due to their adverse health effects. Effluent discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is the main pollutant source for environmental water. To understand the pollutant level and fate of steroid estrogens in WWTPs, the occurrence of estrone (E1), 17-β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and 17-β-ethinylestradiol (EE2) was investigated in the Gaobeidian WWTP in Beijing, China. Water samples from influent as well as effluent from second sedimentation tanks and advanced treatment processes were taken monthly during 2006 to 2007. In influent, steroid estrogen concentrations varied from 11.6 to 1.1× 10 2 ng/l, 3.7 to 1.4×10 2 ng/l, no detection (nd) to 7.6×10 2 ng/l and nd to 3.3×10 2 ng/l for E1, E2, E3, and EE2, respectively. Compared with documented values, the higher steroid estrogen concentrations in the WWTP influent may be due to higher population density, higher birthrate, less dilution, and different sampling time. Results revealed that a municipal WWTP with an activated sludge system incorporating anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic processes could eliminate natural and synthetic estrogens effectively. The mean elimination efficiencies were 83.2%, 96.4%, 98.8%, and 93.0% for E1, E2, E3, and EE2, respectively. The major removal mechanism for natural estrogens and synthetic estrogen EE2 were biodegradation and sorption on the basis of mass balance in water, suspension particles, and sludge. In the WWTP effluent, however, the highest concentrations of E1, E2, E3, and EE2 attained were 74.2, 3.9, 5.1, and 4.6 ng/l, respectively. This is concerning as residual steroid estrogens in WWTP effluent could lead to pollution of the receiving water. Advanced flocculation treatment was applied in the WWTP and transformed the residual estrogen conjugates to free species, which were reduced further by filtration with removal shifting from 32% to 57% for natural estrogen, although no EE2 was removed.

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Section: Levels Of Steroid Estrogens In Wwtp Influent and Effluentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Occurrence and fate of steroid estrogens in the largest wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China

Zhou

Zha

Wang

2011

Environ Monit Assess

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“…After collection, all samples were stored in amber glass bottles into which 1% formaldehyde (v/v) was preadded to restrain the microbial activity and then taken back to the laboratory for analysis. The sampling time was set between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. because the hourly fluctuation of the effluent estrogenicity was found to be insignificant on one sampling day except the morning period when a urine peak load usually appeared in the STP [17]. The samples were collected in four seasons on January 5 (winter), April 14 (spring), July 30 (summer) and November 3 (autumn) throughout 2009, corresponding to a wastewater temperature of 12, 19, 27 and 18°C, and a mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration in the return sludge of 5.11, 6.70, 7.80 and 10.31 g/L, respectively.…”

Section: Sample Collection and Pretreatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate and seasonal variation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in a sewage treatment plant with A/A/O process

Nie

Qiang

Zhang

et al. 2012

Separation and Purification Technology

112

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a b s t r a c tThe fate and seasonal variation of several typical endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including estrone (E1), 17b-estradiol (E2), 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2), estriol (E3), bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-nonylphenol (NP), were investigated in a municipal sewage treatment plant (STP) employing an anaerobic/ anoxic/oxic (A/A/O) process located in Beijing, China by monitoring their concentrations in both wastewater and activated sludge in four seasons throughout 2009. Results indicate that in summer, the examined STP could effectively remove 75.4% of E1 and more than 90% of all other studied EDCs from the wastewater. The biodegradation in the A/A/O process was the primary removal mechanism. Moreover, the removal of EDCs from the wastewater in the A/A/O bioreactor and their concentrations in the solid phase of return sludge exhibited an obvious seasonal fluctuation. The concentrations of EDCs in the effluent and return sludge were much higher in winter and spring than in summer and autumn, which was closely related to the microbial activity and the concentration of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS). Therefore, this study may raise a particular concern regarding the removal of EDCs from wastewater and the disposal of excess sludge in cold seasons.

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“…However, exposure to exogenous steroidal estrogens and other estrogenic contaminants in the aquatic environment has the potential to disrupt fish development and reproduction [1][2][3]. Of particular concern is the ability of estrogens to feminize male fish through disruption of testis growth by development of oocytes and stimulation of vitellogenin production [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in particular, have been shown to contain complex mixtures of endocrinedisrupting compounds [5][6][7][8], including steroidal estrogens such as 17b-estradiol (E2) and ethinylestradiol [6,[9][10][11], as well as plant-derived phytoestrogens [12]. Feminization of male fish exposed to estrogenic effluents has been widely documented, with a number of studies showing sufficient levels of estrogenic compounds to produce adverse effects on reproduction [1,3,6,13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Screening complex effluents for estrogenic activity with the T47D‐KBluc cell bioassay: Assay optimization and comparison with in vivo responses in fish

Wehmas

Cavallin

Durhan

et al. 2010

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

Self Cite

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Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents can contain estrogenic chemicals, which potentially disrupt fish reproduction and development. The current study focused on the use of an estrogen-responsive in vitro cell bioassay (T47D-KBluc), to quantify total estrogenicity of WWTP effluents. We tested a novel sample preparation method for the T47D-KBluc assay, using powdered media prepared with direct effluent. Results of the T47D-KBluc assay were compared with the induction of estrogen receptor-regulated gene transcription in male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to the same effluents. Effluent samples for the paired studies were collected over the course of three months. According to the T47D-KBluc assay, the effluent estrogenicity ranged from 1.13 to 2.00 ng 17β-estradiol (E2) equivalents/L. Corresponding in vivo studies exposing male fathead minnows to 0, 10, 50, and 100% effluent dilutions demonstrated that exposure to 100% effluent significantly increased hepatic vitellogenin (VTG) and estrogen receptor α subunit transcripts relative to controls. The induction was also significant in males exposed to 250 ng E2/L or 100 ng E2/L. The in vitro and in vivo results support the conclusion that the effluent contains significant estrogenic activity, but there was a discrepancy between in vitro- and in vivo-based E2 equivalent estimates. Our results suggest that the direct effluent preparation method for the T47D-KBluc assay is a reasonable approach to estimate the estrogenicity of wastewater effluent.

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Temporal Variation in the Estrogenicity of a Sewage Treatment Plant Effluent and Its Biological Significance

Cited by 57 publications

References 37 publications

Occurrence and fate of steroid estrogens in the largest wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China

Occurrence and fate of steroid estrogens in the largest wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China

Fate and seasonal variation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in a sewage treatment plant with A/A/O process

Screening complex effluents for estrogenic activity with the T47D‐KBluc cell bioassay: Assay optimization and comparison with in vivo responses in fish

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