School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Environ Int. 2023 Oct;180:108246. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108246. Epub 2023 Oct 2.
Estrogen pollution is a persistent issue in rivers. This study investigated the occurrence, spatiotemporal variation mechanisms, sources, and ecological risks of estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), diethylstilbestrol (DES), and bisphenol-A (BPA) in the waters of the Zijiang River, a tributary of the middle Yangtze River. The results revealed elevated detection frequencies and estrogen concentrations in the dry season compared to the wet season, mainly due to the precipitation dilution effect. Total estrogen concentration ranged from 21.2 to 97.5 ng/L in the dry season, which was significantly correlated to spatial distributions of animal husbandry and population. Among the estrogens studied in the river, E2, BPA, and EE2 were predominant. The collective sources of E1, E2, E3, and EE2 were traced back to human and husbandry excrement, whereas BPA emitted from daily life products, contributing to 55.5% and 42.7% of the total estrogen concentration, respectively. Particularly, the average and median E1, E2, and EE2 concentrations in the river exceeded the environmental quality standards of the European Union. The total estrogenic activity dominated by EE2 exceeded the 1 ng E2/L threshold, with levels exceeding 10 ng E2/L during the dry season. The risk quotients exhibited a high ecological risk of E1 and EE2 to fish and a moderate to high ecological risk of E1 to crustaceans, EE2 to mollusks, and E2 to fish. Therefore, E1, E2, and EE2 pollution of the river may lead to both high estrogenic potency and moderate or high ecological risk; thus, they should be considered priority pollutants in the river. These results yield valuable insights into the spatiotemporal change mechanisms, sources, and ecological risks of estrogens in river water of low-urbanization and rural watersheds.
雌激素污染是河流中存在的一个长期问题。本研究调查了雌激素（E1）、17β-雌二醇（E2）、雌三醇（E3）、17α-乙炔雌二醇（EE2）、己烯雌酚（DES）和双酚 A（BPA）在长江支流资江水中的存在、时空变化机制、来源和生态风险。结果表明，与雨季相比，旱季的检出频率和雌激素浓度都有所升高，主要是由于降水稀释效应。旱季总雌激素浓度范围为 21.2-97.5ng/L，与畜牧业和人口的空间分布呈显著相关。在所研究的雌激素中，E2、BPA 和 EE2 占主导地位。E1、E2、E3 和 EE2 的共同来源可追溯到人类和畜牧业粪便，而 BPA 则来自日常生活产品，分别占总雌激素浓度的 55.5%和 42.7%。特别是，河水中 E1、E2 和 EE2 的平均和中位数浓度超过了欧盟的环境质量标准。以 EE2 为主的总雌激素活性超过了 1ng E2/L 的阈值，旱季时超过 10ng E2/L。风险商数显示，鱼类对 E1 和 EE2 的生态风险较高，对甲壳类动物、鱼类对 E1、对贝类动物对 EE2 的生态风险为中等至高。因此，河流中 E1、E2 和 EE2 的污染可能导致高雌激素效力和中等到高生态风险；因此，它们应被视为河流中的优先污染物。这些结果为低城市化和农村流域河水中雌激素的时空变化机制、来源和生态风险提供了有价值的见解。
