Profiles and Some Initial Identifications of (Anti)Androgenic Compounds in Fish Exposed to Wastewater Treatment Works Effluents

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2010-02, Vol.44 (3), p.1137-1143
• Main Authors: Hill, Elizabeth M, Evans, Kerry L, Horwood, Julia, Rostkowski, Pawel, Oladapo, Francis Olumide, Gibson, Richard, Shears, Janice A, Tyler, Charles R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Androgens; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Bile; Bile - chemistry; Bile - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical compounds; Chemical contaminants; Ecotoxicology and Human Environmental Health; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Effluents; Endocrine Disruptors - metabolism; Environmental science; Female; Fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Oncorhynchus mykiss - metabolism; Toxicity; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water treatment; Water treatment plants
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es901837n

Exposure of fish to wastewater treatment works (WwTWs) effluents can result in reproductive anomalies consistent with exposure to estrogenic compounds. However, UK WwTWs effluents also contain compounds with androgen receptor activities which may contribute to reproductive dysfunction in fish. A toxicity identification and evaluation (TIE) approach was used to profile (anti)androgenic compounds in bile of fish exposed to two WwTWs effluents. Extracts of bile from exposed fish and effluent were fractionated by liquid chromatography and tested for (anti)androgenic activity using a yeast androgen receptor transcription screen (YAS). A number of bile fractions contained (anti)androgenic activity unique to the effluent-exposed fish. Some of these fractions contained di(chloromethyl)anthracene or dichlorophene, and these contaminants showed antagonistic activity in the YAS when tested as pure compounds. No androgenic activity was detected in the effluents, but TIE analysis of bile revealed a number of androgenic fractions which contained testosterone metabolites that were unique to effluent-exposed fish. This is the first work reported on the nature of some of the (anti)androgenic compounds that bioaccumulate in fish from WwTWs effluents and indicates that other contaminants, besides estrogenic substances, need to be considered for their potential to contribute to the disruption of reproductive system of fish in UK waters.