Electrolytic removal of 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) in water streams

The electrolytic removal of ethinylestradiol (EE2), the most potent synthetic estrogen, in effluent of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating hospital sewage and in drinking water, was studied at dosed concentrations of about 1 mg EE2 L^?1. Removal efficiencies of up to 98% were obtained with supplemental efficient eradications of bacteria (up to 3.4 log units). Residual effects were observed when a treated flow was mixed with an untreated flow. An increasing concentration of NaCl resulted in an enhanced EE2 removal. This effect was more pronounced in MBR effluent than in drinking water. To approach more environmentally realistic concentrations, an experiment with initial concentration of 10 µg EE2 L^?1 drinking water was set up, still resulting in an EE2 removal of 85%. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

活性污泥对雌激素的吸附和好氧生物降解

为研究活性污泥工艺对类固醇类雌激素去除的规律,从深港两地的污水处理厂采集4种不同性质的污泥,比较其对5种环境雌激素酮(El)、雌二醇(E2)、雌三醇(E3)、17α-雌二醇(17α-E2)和雌炔醇(EE2)的吸附和生物降解.采用液液萃取-GC-MS方法对体系中残留雌激素的质量浓度进行分析.结果表明:4种污泥对雌激素的吸附在30 min ～1 h达到吸附平衡,吸附量在各污泥之间差异无统计学意义,5种雌激素的平均吸附量分别约为1.6、1.7、0.9、2.6和2.5μg·mg-1,平均降解速率分别为326、252、440、275和13 μg·L-1·d-1;综合吸附和降解,5种雌激素在污泥中的半衰期平均约为14.9、0.9、4.3、4.7h和18.9 d.E3的吸附量低于其他雌激素,可能与其极性基团有关;EE2的转化速率显著低于天然雌激素;硝化污泥对EE2的转化速度显著高于其他污泥,硝化菌群可能起到重要作用.     

EMR固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定虾肉中性激素残留的方法建立

本研究建立EMR固相萃取结合超高效液相色谱-串联质谱测定虾肉中15种性激素残留的分析方法。样品采用0.1 mol/L乙二胺四乙酸二钠溶液-乙腈溶液提取,经Captiva EMR固相萃取SPE小柱净化,CAPCELLPAK C₁₈ BB-H（3 μm,2.1 mm×150 mm）色谱柱分离,电喷雾离子源正负离子分开扫描;多反应监测模式的超高效液相色谱-串联质联质谱法进行检测,以空白基质匹配外标法定量。正离子流动相为甲醇和0.1%甲酸,检测雄激素与孕激素;负离子流动相为乙腈和0.01%氨水溶液,检测雌激素。结果表明,经EMR固相萃取净化的虾肉样品中的15种性激素残留在1～50 μg/kg浓度范围内线性关系良好,相关系数（r）均大于0.99,方法检出限为0.0015～0.436 μg/kg,定量限为0.0051～1.453 μg/kg,平均回收率在85.31%~119.84%,相对标准偏差为2.11%~9.86%（n=6）。本方法操作快速简单,重复性好,灵敏度较高,适用于虾肉中15种性激素残留的检测。     

Nitrate‐dependent degradation of 17α‐ethinylestradiol by acclimated activated sludge under anaerobic conditions

BACKGROUND: The synthetic estrogen 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) is of great environmental concern. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the removal of EE2 by activated sludge under anaerobic conditions with or without nitrate. The effect of temperature on EE2 removal was also estimated. RESULTS: No biodegradation of EE2 was observed in the absence of nitrate; owing to sorption onto the activated sludge, the overall removal EE2 rate was 62%; the sorption was fitted to both Freundlich and linear sorption models; the sorption rate decreased with the increase temperature. In the presence of nitrate, the overall removal rate of EE2 was greater than 97% after 72 h, mostly from biodegradation (95%); the biodegradation could be described by first‐order reaction kinetics with average rate constant of 0.0344 h^?1; increasing temperature enhanced the rate constant and the removal rate could be as high as 96–98% in the temperature range 10–30 °C. CONCLUSION: EE2 was removed by activated sludge under anaerobic conditions. In the absence of nitrate, the removal of EE2 was a result of sorption onto activated sludge. In the presence of nitrate, biodegradation was the dominant process for EE2 removal. Higher temperature improves biodegradation rate, but reduces the sorption of EE2 onto activated sludge. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Microscopic comparative study of the exposure effects of testosterone cypionate and ethinylestradiol during prenatal life on the prostatic tissue of adult gerbils

There is an increasing variety of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) either with (anti)estrogenic or (anti)androgenic potential widely present in the environment. These xenosteroids may mimic endogenous steroid hormones disrupting the homeostasis of physiological pathways and leading to several disturbances, especially in tissues highly dependent on steroid hormones such as the prostate. Taking this into account, this comparative study aimed to verify the potential of ethinylestradiol (EE) and testosterone acting as ECDs on the prostate of both male and female adult gerbils exposed to these agents during the embryonic phase. Consequently, pregnant gerbils were treated either with 10 μg/kg/day of EE or with a single dose of 1 mg of testosterone cypionate. The pups that were born 6-8 days after testosterone exposure and the pups that were born after 3 days of EE exposure were allowed to grow but were sacrificed within 4 months. Serological, morphological, stereological, and immunohistochemical analyses were used. Overall, the results showed that both sexes exposed to testosterone and EE during gestation had a prostatic gland with an increased stromal and epithelial and a reduced luminal compartment. Moreover, we observed that glands affected with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia showed intense stromal reshuffling. In conclusion, although these alterations were observed in both sexes, more relevant to this study was the differential responsiveness of males and females exposed to these different drugs. Whereas the EE affected males more, the testosterone was more harmful to the females.     

Cerium dioxide nanoparticles decorated on CuFe2O4 nanofibers as an effective adsorbent for removal of estrogenic contaminants (bisphenol A and 17-α ethinylestradiol) from water

CeO₂/CuFe₂O₄ nanofibers with high adsorption selectivity for bisphenol A (BPA) and 17-α ethinylestradiol (EE2) were synthesized by support of CeO₂ on the CuFe₂O₄ nanofibers. The characteristics of nanocomposite were investigated via using XRD analysis, FT-IR, SEM, pH_pzc, and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller methods. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacities of adsorbent for BPA and EE2 were 226.9 and 179 mg g^?1, respectively. Moreover, the regeneration experiments illustrated that synthesized adsorbent could be recovered, and it showed good recycling ability after being used for six cycles. The isotherm analysis indicated that the equilibrium data could be represented by the Langmuir–Freundlich model. The thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption processes were spontaneous and endothermic under studied conditions.