Occurrence and estrogenic risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wet and dry seasons of the Nan River, Phitsanulok, Thailand

Abstract

The occurrence and estrogenic risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Nan River, Phitsanulok were investigated for the first time. EDCs (octylphenol;OP, nonylphenol;NP, bisphenol A;BPA, and estrone;E1) as well as estrogenic activities (EEQs) were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES) bioassay. Concentrations of OP, NP, BPA, and E1in water, sediment, and fish were found up to 36.7, 1060, 1420, and 17.2 ng/L, 2.8, 97.3, 13.2, and 12.4 ng/g, and 812, 663000, 339, and 11700 ng/g, respectively. Wet season, EEQs in water, sediment, and fish were found with means of 0.36 ng/L, 0.1 ng/g, and 0.48 ng/g, respectively; while for dry season those were found with means of 0.79 ng/L, 0.87 ng/g, and 0.35 ng/g, respectively. Results of this study showed that the Nan River was contaminated with EDCs and can be harmful to aquatic organisms with high estrogenic risk.

Keywords

• estrogenic risks
• EDCs
• chemical analysis
• bioassay
• river