Characterization of estrogenic receptor agonists and evaluation of estrogenic activity in the sediments of Liaohe River protected areas

Estrogenic activity of 12 sediment samples from Liaohe River protected areas was evaluated by the recombinant yeast bioassays. The bioassay-derived 17 beta-estradiol equivalents of crude extracts (Bio-EEQ(crude)S) were between 52.2 and 207.6 pg/g dry weight. The most concerned estrogenic receptor (ER) agonists including estrone (El), 17 beta-estsadiol (E2), estriol (E3), 17 alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2), 4-nonylphenols (4-NP), bisphenol A (BPA), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined. The concentrations of El, E2, E3, EE2, BPA, and Sigma-100CPs ranged up to 2033 pg/g, 185.8 pg/g, 237.7 pg/g, 188.5 pg/g, 51.0 ng/g, and 3.6 ng/g, respectively. Taken together with polarity-based fractionation, in vitro bioassay and chemical analysis, it indicated that El, E2, and EE2 were the predominant ER agonists and were mainly from the discharge of domestic wastewater and breeding wastewater. Meanwhile, this study showed that the establishment of protected areas had not obviously reduced the ecological risk caused by ER agonists in Liaohe River protected areas sediments. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.