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Detection of hormones in surface and drinking water in Brazil by LC-ESI-MS/MS and ecotoxicological assessment with Daphnia magna

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Abstract

The growing use of pharmaceutical drug is mainly due to several diseases in human and in animal husbandry. As these drugs are discharged into waterways via wastewater, they cause a major impact on the environment. Many of these drugs are hormones; in which even at low concentrations can alter metabolic and physiological functions in many organisms. Hormones were found in surface water, groundwater, soil, and sediment at concentrations from nanograms to milligrams per liter of volume—quantities known to cause changes in the endocrine system of aquatic organisms. This study aimed to develop a methodology for hormone detection (estriol, estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-ethinylestradiol, progesterone, and testosterone) on surface and treated water samples. Sample toxicity was assessed by ecotoxicology tests using Daphnia magna. A liquid chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer with an electrospray ionization source (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was used for the analysis. The results showed that samples were contaminated by the hormones estriol, estrone, progesterone, 17β-estradiol, and 17α-ethinylestradiol during the sampling period, and the highest concentrations measured were 90, 28, 26, 137, and 194 ng·L−1, respectively. This indicates the inflow of sewage containing these hormones at some points in the Piracicaba River in the State of Sao Paulo—Brazil. Results indicated little toxicity of the hormone estriol in D. magna, indicating that chronic studies with this microcrustacean are necessary.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), CNPq (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development), and Fapesp (Foundation for Research Support of São Paulo State) for their financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Centenário, 303, Postal Code: 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Nádia Hortense Torres & Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo

  2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Campus Delivery 1301, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1301, USA

    Mario Mamede Aguiar

  3. Processes Engineering, Tiradentes University (UNIT), Av. Murilo Dantas, 300, Aracaju, SE, 49032-490, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando Romanholo Ferreira & Eliane Bezerra Cavalcanti

  4. Institute for Technology and Research, Tiradentes University (UNIT), Av. Murilo Dantas, 300, Aracaju, SE, 49032-490, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando Romanholo Ferreira & Eliane Bezerra Cavalcanti

  5. UNESP Aquiculture Center, UNESP. Rua Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884- 900, Brazil

    Juliana Heloisa Pinê Américo & Ângela Maria Machado

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  1. Nádia Hortense Torres
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  2. Mario Mamede Aguiar
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Correspondence to Nádia Hortense Torres.

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Torres, N.H., Aguiar, M.M., Ferreira, L.F.R. et al. Detection of hormones in surface and drinking water in Brazil by LC-ESI-MS/MS and ecotoxicological assessment with Daphnia magna . Environ Monit Assess 187, 379 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4626-z

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