Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of estrogens in surface water, suspended particulate matter, and sediments of the Yangtze Estuary

Minghua Nie; Caixia Yan; Wenbo Dong; Min Liu; Junliang Zhou; Yi Yang

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.021

Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of estrogens in surface water, suspended particulate matter, and sediments of the Yangtze Estuary

Chemosphere. 2015 May:127:109-16. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.021. Epub 2015 Feb 9.

Authors

Minghua Nie¹, Caixia Yan², Wenbo Dong³, Min Liu⁴, Junliang Zhou², Yi Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, Department of Geosciences, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, Department of Geosciences, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, Department of Geosciences, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China. Electronic address: yyang@geo.ecnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 25676496
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.021

Abstract

The occurrence and distribution of six selected estrogen compounds were investigated in samples of surface water, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment in the Yangtze Estuary and its coastal areas over four seasons. With the exception of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), all estrogens were detected at least once in all three phases with bisphenol A (BPA) and estriol (E3) as the dominant estrogens in all phases. EE2 was not detected in any surface water samples. In addition, the highest total estrogen concentrations were found in January in all phases, which could be due to the low flow conditions and temperature during this season. A significant positive correlation was found between total estrogen concentrations and organic carbon (OC) contents, both in the water phase and solid phase (i.e. SPM and sediment), indicating the vital role played by OC. Based on a yeast estrogen screen (YES) bioassay, the higher estrogenic risk was found in the SPM and sediment phase when compared to the water phase. These results were confirmed by a risk assessment which revealed that the Yangtze Estuary was displayed a low to high risk over the seasons for all selected estrogens.

Keywords: Estrogens; Multiphase; Risk assessment; Yangtze Estuary.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring
Estrogens / analysis*
Estuaries
Geologic Sediments / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis
Risk Assessment
Seasons
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Estrogens
Particulate Matter
Water Pollutants, Chemical