Estrogenic activity in Finnish municipal wastewater effluents

Abstract

Effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a major source of estrogenic compounds to the aquatic environment. In the present work, estrogenic activities of effluents from eight municipal WWTPs in Finland were studied. The main objectives of the study were to quantify the concentrations of selected estrogenic compounds, to evaluate their contribution to estrogenic potency and to test the feasibility of the commercial bioassays for wastewater analysis. The effluent samples were analyzed by two in vitro tests, i.e. ERα-CALUX® and ELISA-E2, and by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for six estrogenic compounds: estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17α-estradiol and bisphenol A (BPA). Estrogenic effects were found in all of the effluent samples with both of the bioassays. The concentrations measured with ELISA-E2 (8.6-61.6 ng/L) were clearly higher but exhibited a similar pattern than those with chemical analysis (E2