Grantee Research Project Results
2008 Progress Report: Transport/Fate/Ecological Effects of Steroids from Poultry Litter & Evaluations of Existing/Novel Management Strategies
EPA Grant Number: R833418Title: Transport/Fate/Ecological Effects of Steroids from Poultry Litter & Evaluations of Existing/Novel Management Strategies
Investigators: Fisher, Daniel J. , Klauda, Ronald J. , Kane, Andrew S. , Yonkos, Lance T. , Staver, Kenneth , VanVeld, Peter
Current Investigators: Fisher, Daniel J. , Kane, Andrew S. , Staver, Kenneth , Yonkos, Lance T. , VanVeld, Peter , Klauda, Ronald J.
Institution: Wye Research and Education Center , School of Medicine at the University of Maryland , Maryland Department of Natural Resources , Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Current Institution: Wye Research and Education Center , Maryland Department of Natural Resources , Virginia Institute of Marine Science , School of Medicine at the University of Maryland
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: August 1, 2007 through June 30, 2010 (Extended to July 31, 2012)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2007 through November 30,2008
Project Amount: $694,736
RFA: Fate and Effects of Hormones in Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOS) (2006) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Endocrine Disruptors , Human Health , Safer Chemicals
Objective:
(1) Multiple litter sources will be screened for fecal steroids;
(2) Steroids in aqueous litter mixtures (lab generated and field collected) will be monitored over time to determine degradation rates and pathways;
(3) Fish will be exposed to aqueous litter mixtures in laboratory assays to determine the affects of steroid degradation on bioactivity;
(4) Influences of agricultural management practices on steroid transport to surface waters will be investigated;
(5) Maryland Biological Stream Survey protocols will be applied to agriculturally impaired watersheds to assess possible community and population level disturbances resulting from fecal steroid exposure.
(6) Largemouth bass will be collected from lakes for determination of endocrine disruptive effects, primarily blood plasma vitellogenin and gonadal abnormalities (intersex);
(7) Male fathead minnows will be caged in lakes that receive runoff from poultry litter amended fields to look for induction of VTG.
Progress Summary:
Future Activities:
A laboratory experiment will be conducted with fathead minnows using pure estradiol and a mix of pure estradiol and pure testosterone to determine whether the presence of testosterone affects the induction of VTG in male and female fish. A second application of poultry litter will be conducted on the experimental watersheds at WREC. As in Year 1, no-till and turbo-till tillage practices will be compared for differences in loss of water soluble compounds including steroids and nutrients. This will give us 2 years of comparison of these different tillage practices. Fish will be exposed to runoff from the no-till watersheds at various times as it is allowed to age. Steroid concentrations (estradiol, estrone and testosterone) will be tracked, including some conjugates, as the litter ages. VTG will be measured in male fish to determine whether the litter loses its estrogenicity over time. In addition, estrogenicity changes over time will be monitored using the in-vitro estrogen-inducible reporter-gene. Largemouth bass will be sampled in a river system on the Delmarva Peninsula for intersex.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 9 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Steroids, nutrients, endocrine disruption, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), intersex, plasma VTG, VTG mRNA, in-vitro estrogen-inducible reporter-gene, tillage management practices, EDC, endocrine disruptorProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.