Identification of Estrogenic Chemicals in STW Effluent. 1. Chemical Fractionation and in Vitro Biological Screening

TLDR

The study developed a fractionation system and in vitro assay to isolate and identify major estrogenic chemicals in seven sewage‑treatment works effluents. The system combined chemical fractionation with an in vitro estrogenic activity assay. Three sterols—17β‑estradiol, estrone, and 17α‑ethynylestradiol—were isolated; 17β‑estradiol and estrone were found in all effluents at 1–50 and 1–80 ng L⁻¹, respectively, while 17α‑ethynylestradiol was below detection in most samples but detected at 0.2–7.0 ng L⁻¹ in three, indicating that natural and synthetic hormones may drive vitellogenin induction in male fish downstream of these effluents.

Abstract

A fractionation system, combined with an in vitro assay for detecting estrogenic activity, was developed in order to isolate and identify the major estrogenic chemicals present in seven sewage-treatment works (STW) effluents, receiving primarily domestic effluent, discharging into British rivers. Three sterols were isolated from estrogenic fractions of sewage extracts; these were the natural hormones 17β-estradiol and estrone and the synthetic hormone 17α-ethynylestradiol. 17β-Estradiol and estrone were present in all the effluents at measured concentra tions ranging from 1 ng/L to almost 50 and 80 ng/L, respectively. The concentration of 17α-ethynylestradiol was generally below the limit of detection but was positively identified in three of the effluent samples at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 7.0 ng/L. These data suggest that natural and synthetic hormones may be responsible for the observed induction of vitellogenin synthesis in male fish placed downstream of effluent discharges from STWs that receive mainly domestic inputs.