State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100021, China,
Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2014;228:31-56. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-01619-1_2.
Contamination of the aquatic environment by EDCs has received considerable attention from scientists, government officials, and the public. E2, one of the EDCs with high estrogenic effect, has the potential to cause multiple endocrine-disrupting effects, even at small concentrations. In the present review, the toxicity of E2 to aquatic organisms was reviewed. Results of published studies show that, for aquatic species, reproductive effects were the most sensitive endpoint for E2 exposure.Although the risks posed by EDCs have caused much attention, the research on the WQC 'for EDCs is still at the initial stage. It has been suggested in several reports that the PNEC can be regarded as the most appropriate reference value for developing WQC for the EDCs. The SSD method was applied to derive PNECs that were based on reproductive effects endpoints. In the present review, 31 NOECs, based on reproductive effect endpoints for different species, were selected to construct the curve. ThePNEC value was determined to be 0.73 ng E2/L, which could protect the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, 6 NOECs for multigeneration species were also analyzed in anticipation of sensitivity comparison between the Fa and the F1 generations.When multiple generations of aquatic species were exposed to concentrations no greater than 100 ng E2/L, nearly 71.4% of the F 1 generation individuals were more sensitive to the effects of E2 than those of the Fa generation. This result indicated that different generations of the same species may respond differently to EDCs exposure.Individuals of the F 1 generation were slightly more sensitive than those of the Fa generation,in general. Therefore, protecting the F1 generation of aquatic organisms is particularly important when WQC values for the EDCs are established.Considering the toxic effects of EDCs on reproduction, long-term toxic effects(viz., full-life cycle study and the most sensitive life stage) should be used in settingWQC. Unfortunately, the NOECs of E2 for multigeneration species did not meet the requirement of PNEC derivation for protecting the Fl generation. Therefore, further research results are needed on the Fl generation of aquatic species to provide more insight into what constitutes adequate protection for aquatics lives. In the present review, the PNEC values derived in the study were compared to thePNEC values developed by others, and the results showed that they were highly consistent. In addition, we also compared the PNEC value for E2 to the PNEC value for EE2, a similar estrogen, and the result was also highly consistent when their EEFs were considered. These comparisons affirmed that the method we used for deriving the PNEC value of E2 was reasonable and the PNEC values we derived were acceptable for protecting aquatic organisms. By comparing the PNEC values we calculated to actual E2 concentrations in the natural water environment, we found that E2 in surface waters may pose high risks in many countries, especially China, Japan, the USA, Great Britain, and Italy.
环境内分泌干扰物对水生环境的污染引起了科学家、政府官员和公众的广泛关注。E2 是一种具有高雌激素效应的内分泌干扰物，即使在低浓度下，也有可能产生多种内分泌干扰效应。在本综述中，我们回顾了 E2 对水生生物的毒性。已发表研究的结果表明，对于水生物种，生殖效应是 E2 暴露最敏感的终点。尽管内分泌干扰物所带来的风险引起了广泛关注，但针对环境内分泌干扰物的水质基准研究仍处于起步阶段。有几份报告建议，可以将预测无效应浓度（PNEC）值作为为环境内分泌干扰物制定水质基准的最适当参考值。本研究应用 SSD 方法推导基于生殖效应终点的 PNEC 值。在本综述中，选择了 31 个基于不同物种生殖效应终点的无效应浓度（NOEC）值来构建曲线。PNEC 值确定为 0.73ng E2/L，这可以保护水生生态系统的生物多样性。此外，还分析了 6 种多代物种的 NOEC 值，以期比较 Fa 代和 F1 代之间的敏感性。当多代水生物种暴露于浓度不高于 100ng E2/L 时，近 71.4%的 F1 代个体对 E2 的敏感性高于 Fa 代。这一结果表明，同一物种的不同世代可能对内分泌干扰物暴露有不同的反应。一般来说，F1 代个体比 Fa 代个体略敏感。因此，在为环境内分泌干扰物制定水质基准时，特别需要保护水生生物的 F1 代。考虑到内分泌干扰物对生殖的毒性作用，应在设置水质基准时使用长期毒性效应（即全生命周期研究和最敏感的生命阶段）。遗憾的是，E2 对多代物种的 NOEC 值不符合保护 F1 代的 PNEC 推导要求。因此，需要进一步研究水生物种的 F1 代，以更深入地了解为水生生物提供充分保护的构成要素。在本综述中，我们将研究中推导的 PNEC 值与其他人推导的 PNEC 值进行了比较，结果表明它们高度一致。此外，我们还比较了 E2 的 PNEC 值与类似雌激素 EE2 的 PNEC 值，当考虑其效应因子时，结果也是高度一致的。这些比较证实了我们用于推导 E2 的 PNEC 值的方法是合理的，我们推导的 PNEC 值可用于保护水生生物。通过将我们计算的 PNEC 值与天然水环境中的实际 E2 浓度进行比较，我们发现在许多国家，特别是中国、日本、美国、英国和意大利，地表水的 E2 可能存在高风险。
