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Longer-term and short-term variability in pollution of fluvial sediments by dioxin-like and endocrine disruptive compounds

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Abstract

Changes in pollutant loads in relatively dynamic river sediments, which contain very complex mixtures of compounds, can play a crucial role in the fate and effects of pollutants in fluvial ecosystems. The contamination of sediments by bioactive substances can be sensitively assessed by in vitro bioassays. This is the first study that characterizes detailed short- and long-term changes in concentrations of contaminants with several modes of action in river sediments. One-year long monthly study described seasonal and spatial variability of contamination of sediments in a representative industrialized area by dioxin-like and endocrine disruptive chemicals. There were significant seasonal changes in both antiandrogenic and androgenic as well as dioxin-like potential of river sediments, while there were no general seasonal trends in estrogenicity. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor-dependent potency (dioxin-like potency) expressed as biological TCDD-equivalents (BIOTEQ) was in the range of 0.5–17.7 ng/g, dry mass (dm). The greatest BIOTEQ levels in sediments were observed during winter, particularly at locations downstream of the industrial area. Estrogenicity expressed as estradiol equivalents (EEQ) was in the range of 0.02–3.8 ng/g, dm. Antiandrogenicity was detected in all samples, while androgenic potency in the range of 0.7–16.8 ng/g, dm dihydrotestosterone equivalents (DHT-EQ) was found in only 30 % of samples, most often during autumn, when antiandrogenicity was the least. PAHs were predominant contaminants among analyzed pollutants, responsible, on average, for 13–21 % of BIOTEQ. Longer-term changes in concentrations of BIOTEQ corresponded to seasonal fluctuations, whereas for EEQ, the inter-annual changes at some locations were greater than seasonal variability during 1 year. The inter- as well as intra-annual variability in concentrations of both BIOTEQ and EEQ at individual sites was greater in spring than in autumn which was related to hydrological conditions in the river. This study stresses the importance of river hydrology and its seasonal variations in the design of effective sampling campaigns, as well as in the interpretation of any monitoring results.

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Notes

  1. Locality CR (oxbow lake) has no water discharge (lentic locality) and temperature was not measured, therefore, these two variables could not have been included in Fig. 5.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by projects ENVISCREEN (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic No. 2B08036) and CETOCOEN (CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0001) from the European Regional Development Fund. We acknowledge Klara Komprdova, Roman Prokes, and Ondrej Sanka for their technical assistance. Prof. Giesy was supported by the Canada Research Chair program, a Visiting Distinguished Professorship in the Department of Biology and Chemistry and State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, the 2012 “Great Level Foreign Experts” (#GDW20123200120) program, funded by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the P.R. China to Nanjing University and the Einstein Professor Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    P. Macikova, T. Kalabova, J. Klanova, P. Kukucka & K. Hilscherova

  2. Department of Biomedical Veterinary Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    J. P. Giesy

  3. Zoology Department and Centre for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    J. P. Giesy

  4. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    J. P. Giesy

  5. Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    J. P. Giesy

  6. Environmental Science Program, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    J. P. Giesy

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  1. P. Macikova
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  2. T. Kalabova
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Macikova, P., Kalabova, T., Klanova, J. et al. Longer-term and short-term variability in pollution of fluvial sediments by dioxin-like and endocrine disruptive compounds. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 5007–5022 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2429-8

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