Identification of estrogenic chemicals in STW effluent. 1. Chemical fractionation and in vitro biological screening

A fractionation system, combined with an in vitro assay for detecting estrogenic activity, was developed in order to isolate and identify the major-estrogenic chemicals present in seven sewage-treatment works (STW) effluents, receiving primarily domestic effluent, discharging into British rivers. Three sterols were isolated from estrogenic fractions of sewage extracts; these were the natural hormones 17 beta-estradiol and estrone and the synthetic hormone 17 alpha-ethynylestradiol. 17 beta-Estradiol and estrone were present in all the effluents at measured concentrations ranging from 1 ng/L to almost 50 and 80 ng/L, respectively. The concentration of 17 alpha-ethynylestradiol was generally below the limit of detection but was positively identified in three of the effluent samples at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 7.0 ng/L. These data suggest that natural and synthetic hormones may be responsible for the observed induction of vitellogenin synthesis in male fish placed downstream of effluent discharges from STWs that receive mainly domestic inputs.