Endocrine disrupting alkylphenolic chemicals and other contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents, urban streams, and fish in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Regions

Endocrine disrupting alkylphenolic chemicals and other contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents, urban streams, and fish in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Regions

2015

Urban streams are an integral part of the municipal water cycle and provide a point of discharge for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, allowing additional attenuation through dilution and transformation processes, as well as a conduit for transporting contaminants to downstream water supplies. Domestic and commercial activities dispose of wastes down-the-drain, resulting in wastewater containing complex chemical mixtures that are only partially removed during treatment. A key issue associated with WWTP effluent discharge into streams is the potential to cause endocrine disruption in fish. This study provides a long-term (1999-2009) evaluation of the occurrence of alkylphenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and other contaminants discharged from WWTPs into streams in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Regions (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio). The Greater Metropolitan Chicago Area Waterways, Illinois, were evaluated to determine contaminant concentrations in the major WWTP effluents and receiving streams, and assess the behavior of EDCs from their sources within the sewer collection system, through the major treatment unit processes at a WWTP, to their persistence and transport in the receiving stream. Water samples were analyzed for alkylphenolic EDCs and other contaminants, including 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolpolyethoxylates (NPEO), 4-nonylphenolethoxycarboxylic acids (NPEC), 4-tert-octylphenol (OP), 4-tert-octylphenolpolyethoxylates (OPEO), bisphenol A, triclosan, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and trace elements. All of the compounds were detected in all of the WWTP effluents, with EDTA and NPEC having the greatest concentrations. The compounds also were detected in the WWTP effluent dominated rivers. Multiple fish species were collected from river and lake sites and analyzed for NP, NPEO, NPEC, OP, and OPEO. Whole-body fish tissue analysis indicated widespread occurrence of alkylphenolic compounds, with the highest concentrations occurring in streams with the greatest WWTP effluent content. Biomarkers of endocrine disruption in the fish indicated long-term exposure to estrogenic chemicals in the wastewater impacted urban waterways.

Barber, Larry B.
Loyo-Rosales, Jorge E
Rice, Clifford P
Minarik, Thomas A
Oskouie, Ali K

U.S. Geological Survey
Ryerson University, Department of Chemistry and Biology
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

USDA Agricultural Research Service
USGS Western Fisheries Research Center
Ryerson University, Department of Chemistry and Biology
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Surface Water
Agricultural Drainage
Water Quality & Pollutants
Water Conveyance & Hydraulics
Water Education, Outreach & Community Capacity

surface water
surface waters
surface-water
surface-waters
surfacewater
surfacewaters
endocrine disruptor
endocrine disruptors
water quality
water qualities
water-quality
water-qualities
Waste Water Treatment Plant
Waste Water Treatment Plants
wwtp
wwtps
wwtp's
Wastewater
Waste water
waste-water
wastewaters
stream water quality
surface water contaminants
surface water contaminant
surface-water contaminant
surface-water contaminants
surface water contaminent
surface water contaminents
water quality sampling
Water Quality Guidance of the Great Lakes System
Water Quality Guidance of the Great Lakes Systems
Water Quality Guidance of the Great Lake System
Water Quality Guidances of the Great Lakes Systems
effluent
effluents
effluence
endocrine
endocrine disrupter
endocrine disrupters
water quality & pollutants
water quality and pollutants
water biology & aquatic habitat
water biology and aquatic habitat
water biology & aquatic habitats
water biology and aquatic habitats
water monitoring & assessment
water monitoring and assessment
endocrine disrupting chemical
endocrine disrupting chemicals
EDC
EDCs
wastewater effluant
wastewater effluent
wastewater efflunets
wastewater effluents
surface water quality

2010-2019

Yes

Public Domain

Minnesota Water Research Digital Library