Estrogens in municipal wastewater and receiving waters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China : Occurrence and risk assessment of mixtures

Lei, Kai and Lin, Chun-Ye and Zhu, Ying and Chen, Wei and Pan, Hui-Yun and Sun, Zhe and Sweetman, Andrew and Zhang, Qinghua and He, Meng-Chang (2020) Estrogens in municipal wastewater and receiving waters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China : Occurrence and risk assessment of mixtures. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 389: 121891. ISSN 0304-3894

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Abstract

The potentially high release of estrogens to surface waters due to high population density and local livestock production in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region may pose adverse effects on reproductive systems of aquatic organisms. This study found that total measured concentrations of estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and diethylstilbestrol (DES) were 468 ± 27 ng/L in treated wastewater and 219 ± 23 ng/L in river waters in this region. E2, E3 and EE2 were the predominant estrogens in river waters. The restriction of DES for human use should have been enforced, however concentrations of DES were relatively high compared to other studies. Haihe and Yongdingxin Rivers delivered approximately 1.8 tonnes of estrogens to the Bohai Bay annually. Concentrations of individual estrogens were significantly higher in river waters in the dry season, however, mass loadings were significantly higher in the wet season. The average E2-equivalent concentrations reached 1.2 ± 0.2 and 0.64 ± 0.08 μg-E2/L following long-term and short-term exposure estimates, respectively, in river waters with an EE2 contribution of over 90 %. This could give rise to high risks to fish. Estrogens in river waters largely derived from human excretion. Field studies on estrogenic effects on fish reproductive systems are required locally considering high estrogen contamination levels.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Hazardous Materials. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Hazardous Materials, 389, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121891
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2304
Subjects:
?? estrogensriver waterswastewaterenvironmental risksemission sourcesenvironmental chemistrypollutionenvironmental engineeringhealth, toxicology and mutagenesiswaste management and disposal ??
ID Code:
139909
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
17 Jan 2020 11:30
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
04 Jan 2024 00:22