Abstract
Biosolids spread onto agricultural soils are potential sources of steroidal hormones that are able to adversely affect the soil ecosystem. Here we studied the fate of the [4-14C]-17-β-estradiol hormone in laboratory experiments. First, our results show that only 2.9% of the hormone was mineralized in the soil from a French vineyard. By contrast, the mineralization increased to 7.1% when the hormone was provided in composted biosolids. Second, we found that only a minor part of the estradiol-derived 14C was mobile and partly transferred to soil leachates. Indeed, the hormone was mainly stabilized in the soil as non-extractable residues. Overall, our findings show that estradiol undergoes two main processes, complete degradation and stabilisation. We therefore conclude that the environmental risk of hormones provided to the soil through composted biosolids is negligible under the conditions of our experiments.
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Acknowledgments
The present study was funded by two French national programs: Thematic Action Environment and Health of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and Continental Ecosphere (ECCO) Ecotoxicology and Ecodynamic of Contaminants (ECODYN-03CV117) of the National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (INSU).
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Dubroca, J., Collignon, N., Brault, A. et al. Fate of 17β-estradiol in terrestrial model ecosystems amended with contaminated composted biosolids. Environ Chem Lett 7, 369–373 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-008-0181-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-008-0181-y