You are here:
INVESTIGATION OF TRANSFORMATION PRODUCTS FROM THE CHLORINATION OF ESTROGENIC AND ANDROGENIC COMPOUNDS
Citation:
MASH, H., K. M. SCHENCK, AND L. Rosenblum. INVESTIGATION OF TRANSFORMATION PRODUCTS FROM THE CHLORINATION OF ESTROGENIC AND ANDROGENIC COMPOUNDS . Presented at 2008 AWWA WQTC Conference, Cincinnati, OH, November 16 - 20, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
To share Information
Description:
Drinking water sources are increasingly impacted by upstream anthropogenic activities, including wastewater discharge, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and landfill leachate. Androgenic and estrogenic activities have been detected in surface waters downstream from such discharges. A large portion of this activity can be attributed to the outflow of specific compounds, including natural and synthetic steroids. Chlorine (specifically, hypochorite) is a commonly employed disinfectant in drinking water treatment and microbiological deterrent in distribution systems. Bench-scale studies were conducted to identify transformation products from the chlorination of several estrogenic compounds (estradiol, ethynylestradiol, and estriol) and anabolic steroids (including trans-dehydrotestosterone, testosterone and trembolone). Accurate mass analysis employing a quadruple-time-of flight (Q-TOF) was used for positive identification of the products. Results indicate that the estrogens are highly reactive in the presence of chlorine forming a multitude of products. Results showed treatment of the estrogens with chlorine resulted in approximately 98 percent reductions in the concentrations of the parent estrogens. The reactivity of the androgenic steroidal compounds with chlorine was highly dependant on structural characteristics and functional substitutions. Several of the selected steroids were unreactive under the chlorination conditions used, many others were highly reactive resulting in the loss of measurable quantities of the parent in a matter of hours. The results have broad implications for estimating human exposure to estrogens and androgens from chlorinated community drinking waters.