Volume 517, 1 June 2015, Pages 195–206
Endocrine disrupting alkylphenolic chemicals and other contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents, urban streams, and fish in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Regions
Highlights
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- Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are sources of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
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- Sources, concentrations, and exposure pathways of EDCs persist over long time periods.
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- Although some EDCs are removed by WWTPs, many are discharged to the environment.
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- Many alkylphenolic EDCs undergo little attenuation during stream transport.
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- Fish from WWTP effluent impacted streams have signs of endocrine disruption.
Abstract
Urban
streams are an integral part of the municipal water cycle and provide a
point of discharge for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents,
allowing additional attenuation through dilution and transformation
processes, as well as a conduit for transporting contaminants to
downstream water supplies. Domestic and commercial activities dispose of
wastes down-the-drain, resulting in wastewater containing complex
chemical mixtures that are only partially removed during treatment. A
key issue associated with WWTP effluent discharge into streams is the
potential to cause endocrine disruption in fish. This study provides a
long-term (1999–2009) evaluation of the occurrence of alkylphenolic
endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and other contaminants discharged
from WWTPs into streams in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River
Regions (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio). The Greater
Metropolitan Chicago Area Waterways, Illinois, were evaluated to
determine contaminant concentrations in the major WWTP effluents and
receiving streams, and assess the behavior of EDCs from their sources
within the sewer collection system, through the major treatment unit
processes at a WWTP, to their persistence and transport in the receiving
stream. Water samples were analyzed for alkylphenolic EDCs and other
contaminants, including 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolpolyethoxylates
(NPEO), 4-nonylphenolethoxycarboxylic acids (NPEC), 4-tert-octylphenol (OP), 4-tert-octylphenolpolyethoxylates
(OPEO), bisphenol A, triclosan, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA),
and trace elements. All of the compounds were detected in all of the
WWTP effluents, with EDTA and NPEC having the greatest concentrations.
The compounds also were detected in the WWTP effluent dominated rivers.
Multiple fish species were collected from river and lake sites and
analyzed for NP, NPEO, NPEC, OP, and OPEO. Whole-body fish tissue
analysis indicated widespread occurrence of alkylphenolic compounds,
with the highest concentrations occurring in streams with the greatest
WWTP effluent content. Biomarkers of endocrine disruption in the fish
indicated long-term exposure to estrogenic chemicals in the wastewater
impacted urban waterways.
Keywords
- Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid;
- 4-Nonylphenol compounds;
- 4-Tert-octylphenol compounds;
- Bisphenol A;
- Triclosan;
- Trace elements;
- Gadolinium anomaly;
- Fish endocrine disruption
Published by Elsevier B.V.