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Emerging Contaminants and Water Supply – Speaker Abstracts Emerging Contaminants and Water Supply – Speaker Abstracts PRESENCE OF ESTROGEN HORMONES AND ANTIBIOTICS IN
detection limits for all 12 estrogen compounds ranged from 0.1 ng L-1 to THE ENVIRONMENT
10 ng L-1 using a sample size of 1 L. Eight antibiotics and venlaflaxine were detected in the effluent with concentrations that ranged from 50 to Robert F. Chimchirian & Sandhya Meduri Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Twenty-one streams in Chester County, southeast Pennsylvania, were also sampled for aqueous concentrations of the above hormones and antibiotics. Chester County represents a very diverse land use. Inaddition to concentrated urban developments, there are many In recent years, the detection of trace amount of pharmaceutically active agricultural farms (dairy, cattle, hog, poultry, and mushroom). The compounds (PACs) in the surface water has gained widespread watershed is comprised of about 280,000 acres that eventually drain into attention. The presence of the PACs in the natural water systems causes the Chesapeake Bay via the Susquehanna River. The results showed that ecological problems and possible adverse effects to humans. Two classes there was at least one estrogen detected in every stream sampled and six of PACs, estrogen hormones and antibiotics make their way into the estrogens were detected at three different locations. The most abundant surface waters through effluents from wastewater treatment plants and PAC was estrone, which was detected in all but one stream, with areas where animal manure and biosolids are land applied, amongst concentrations as high as 2.4 ng L-1. The second most frequent other sources. Feminization of fish has been well documented and is compound detected was estriol, with a maximum concentration of 19.7 used as a biomarker of estrogen pollution. Concentration of 1 to 10 ng ng L-1, the highest of any other PAC. Out of the 14 antibiotics tested L-1 of 17 β-estradiol and 0.1 ng L-1 17α-ethinyl estradiol can cause none were detected at any of the stream locations during the sampling vigtellonensis in male rainbow trout. The presence of antibiotics allows time of October 20 to December 6, 2004.
disease causing bacteria to build a resistance; therefore, some antibioticsonce used to treat diseases are now becoming ineffective.
Two municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in southeasternPennsylvania were sampled to determine the influent and effluentconcentrations of 12 natural and synthetic estrogen hormones alongwith the effluent concentration of 12 antibiotics and one antidepressant(venlaflaxine). The target estrogens were: 17α-estradiol, estrone, estriol,equilin, 17α-dihydroequilin, 17 β-estradiol, 17 α-ethinyl estradiol,gestodene, norgestrel, levonorgestrel, medrogestone and trimegestone.
The target antibiotics were: oxytetracycline, chlorotetracycline,tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethazine, trimethoprim,lincomycin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, roxithromycin, erythromycin andtylosin tartrate. One WWTP employed a packed bed trickling filter andthe other used a continuously-stirred activated sludge process. Fourestrogen hormones were detected in the influent and effluent of in bothplants. The concentration of estrogens in the influent samples of bothtreatment plants ranged from 1.2 to 259 ng L-1. The concentration ofestrogens in the effluent samples ranged from 0.4 to 22 ng L-1. The

Source: http://www.potomacdwspp.org/Meetings/Sept19-2005/Suri_Abstract.pdf