Abstract
This is the first nationwide survey of bisphenol A (BPA), methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and o-phenylphenol, in Egypt’s water. Five hundred fifty-five water samples were collected from source water (SW, 109 samples) and drinking water (DW, 446 samples) of twenty-three Egyptian governorates. These chemicals were determined by direct ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) analysis of a filtered aliquot of samples. The impacts of the measured concentrations on the aquatic organisms and human health were evaluated as well. BPA, methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben were frequently detected in SW and DW, while ethylparaben and o-phenylphenol were not detected whatsoever. The most frequently detected endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) was BPA in SW and methylparaben in DW. The recorded highest concentrations of BPA and methylparaben in SW and BPA and methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben in DW were the highest worldwide. Of the investigated twenty-three governorates, the SW and DW of Aswan, Red Sea, Cairo, Sharqia, and Damietta were free of the studied EDCs. Contrarily, BPA, MeP, PrP, and BuP were detected in Sohag’s SW and DW. A detection ratio > 70% was recorded in SW of Faiyum, Dakahlia, and Ismailia, and > 90% in DW of Sohag, Port Said, Dakahlia, and Faiyum. The environmental risk assessment results excluded any human health risk even in the worst-case scenario and showed that BPA represents the highest risk to the aquatic organisms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel-Satar AM, Ali MH, Goher ME (2017) Indices of water quality and metal pollution of Nile River, Egypt. Egypt J Aquat Res 43:21–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2016.12.006
Archer E, Petrie B, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Wolfaardt GM (2017) The fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), endocrine disrupting contaminants (EDCs), metabolites and illicit drugs in a WWTW and environmental waters. Chemosphere 174:437–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.101
Aristizabal-Ciro C, Botero-Coy AM, López FJ, Peñuela GA (2017) Monitoring pharmaceuticals and personal care products in reservoir water used for drinking water supply. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:7335–7347
Ashfaq M, Sun Q, Zhang H, Li Y, Wang Y, Li M, Lv M, Liao X, Yu CP (2018) Occurrence and fate of bisphenol A transformation products, bisphenol A monomethyl ether and bisphenol A dimethyl ether, in wastewater treatment plants and surface water. J Hazard Mater 357:401–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.06.022
Asimakopoulos AG, Elangovan M, Kannan K (2016) Migration of parabens, bisphenols, benzophenone-type UV filters, triclosan, and triclocarban from teethers and its implications for infant exposure. Environ Sci Technol 50:13539–13547. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b04128
Attia BB (2018) Securing Water resources for Egypt: a major challenge for policy planners. In: Negm AM (ed) Unconventional water resources and agriculture in Egypt. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 75. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2018_334
Canesi L, Fabbri E (2015) Environmental effects of BPA: focus on aquatic species. Dose-Response 13:1559325815598304
Careghini A, Mastorgio AF, Saponaro S, Sezenna E (2015) Bisphenol A, nonylphenols, benzophenones, and benzotriazoles in soils, groundwater, surface water, sediments, and food: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:5711–5741
Česen M, Ahel M, Terzić S, Heath DJ, Heath E (2019) The occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern in Slovenian and Croatian wastewaters and receiving Sava river. Sci Total Environ 650:2446–2453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.238
Chen J, Hartmann EM, Kline J, Van Den Wymelenberg K, Halden RU (2018) Assessment of human exposure to triclocarban, triclosan and five parabens in U.S. indoor dust using dispersive solid phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. J Hazard Mater 360:623–630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.08.014
El Wasif AES, El Dafrawy SM, Moalla SNED, El Defrawy M (2019) Health risk assessment of dissolved heavy metals in some selected water samples: Dakahlia, Egypt. Int J Appl Chem 15:15–19
EMA E (2018) Guideline on the environmental risk assessment of medicinal products for human use - Revision 1.
Esteban S, Gorga M, González-Alonso S, Petrovic M, Barceló D, Valcárcel Y (2014) Monitoring endocrine disrupting compounds and estrogenic activity in tap water from Central Spain. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21:9297–9310
Fan Z, Hu J, An W, Yang M (2013) Detection and occurrence of chlorinated byproducts of bisphenol a, nonylphenol, and estrogens in drinking water of china: comparison to the parent compounds. Environ Sci Technol 47:10841–10850. https://doi.org/10.1021/es401504a
Furlong ET, Batt AL, Glassmeyer ST, Noriega MC, Kolpin DW, Mash H, Schenck KM (2017) Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the United States. Pharma Sci Total Environ 579:1629–1642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.128
Gros M, Petrović M, Ginebreda A, Barceló D (2010) Removal of pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment and environmental risk assessment using hazard indexes. Environ Int 36:15–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2009.09.002
Guo Y, Kannan K (2013) A survey of phthalates and parabens in personal care products from the United States and its implications for human exposure. Environ Sci Technol 47:14442–14449. https://doi.org/10.1021/es4042034
Guo Y, Wang L, Kannan K (2014) Phthalates and parabens in personal care products from China: concentrations and human exposure. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 66:113–119
Haman C, Dauchy X, Rosin C, Munoz JF (2015) Occurrence, fate and behavior of parabens in aquatic environments: a review. Water Res 68:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.030
Hu R, Xiao X, Tu S, Zuo X, Nan J (2015) Synthesis of flower-like heterostructured β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 microspheres using Bi2O2CO3 self-sacrifice precursor and its visible-light-induced photocatalytic degradation of o-phenylphenol. Appl Catal B Environ 163:510–519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2014.08.025
Jin H, Zhu L (2016) Occurrence and partitioning of bisphenol analogues in water and sediment from Liaohe River Basin and Taihu Lake, China. Water Res 103:343–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.07.059
Kortenkamp A (2017) Endocrine disruptors: The burden of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the USA. Nat Rev Endocrinol 13:6–7
Li W, Gao L, Shi Y, Wang Y, Liu J, Cai Y (2016) Spatial distribution, temporal variation and risks of parabens and their chlorinated derivatives in urban surface water in Beijing, China. Sci Total Environ 539:262–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.150
Li W, Shi Y, Gao L, Liu J, Cai Y (2015) Occurrence, fate and risk assessment of parabens and their chlorinated derivatives in an advanced wastewater treatment plant. J Hazard Mater 300:29–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.06.060
Liang L, Zhang J, Feng P, Li C, Huang Y, Dong B, Li L, Guan X (2015) Occurrence of bisphenol A in surface and drinking waters and its physicochemical removal technologies. Front Environ Sci Eng 9:16–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0697-2
Liao C, Chen L, Kannan K (2013a) Occurrence of parabens in foodstuffs from China and its implications for human dietary exposure. Environ Int 57-58:68–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2013.04.001
Liao C, Liu F, Kannan K (2013b) Occurrence of and dietary exposure to parabens in foodstuffs from the united states. Environ Sci Technol 47:3918–3925. https://doi.org/10.1021/es400724s
Ma W-L, Zhao X, Lin ZY, Mohammed MO, Zhang ZF, Liu LY, Song WW, Li YF (2016) A survey of parabens in commercial pharmaceuticals from China and its implications for human exposure. Environ Int 95:30–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.07.013
Machado KC et al (2016) A preliminary nationwide survey of the presence of emerging contaminants in drinking and source waters in Brazil. Sci Total Environ 572:138–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.210
Mahmoud MA et al (2016) Infectious bacterial pathogens, parasites and pathological correlations of sewage pollution as an important threat to farmed fishes in Egypt. Environ Pollut 219:939–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.09.044
Nowak K, Ratajczak-Wrona W, Górska M, Jabłońska E (2018) Parabens and their effects on the endocrine system. Mol Cell Endocrinol 474:238–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2018.03.014
Olak-Kucharczyk M, Miller J, Ledakowicz S (2013) Decomposition of meta-and para-phenylphenol during ozonation process. Chem Pap 67:1157–1163
Olak-Kucharczyk M, Miller JS, Ledakowicz S (2012) Ozonation kinetics of o-phenylphenol in aqueous solutions. Ozone Sci Eng 34:300–305
Omar MEDM, Moussa AMA (2016) Water management in Egypt for facing the future challenges. J Adv Res 7:403–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2016.02.005
Pereira LC, de Souza AO, Bernardes MFF, Pazin M, Tasso MJ, Pereira PH, Dorta DJ (2015) A perspective on the potential risks of emerging contaminants to human and environmental health. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:13800–13823
Riva F, Castiglioni S, Fattore E, Manenti A, Davoli E, Zuccato E (2018) Monitoring emerging contaminants in the drinking water of Milan and assessment of the human risk. Int J Hyg Environ Health 221:451–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.01.008
Riva F, Zuccato E, Davoli E, Fattore E, Castiglioni S (2019) Risk assessment of a mixture of emerging contaminants in surface water in a highly urbanized area in Italy. J Hazard Mater 361:103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.07.099
Rudel RA, Camann DE, Spengler JD, Korn LR, Brody JG (2003) Phthalates, alkylphenols, pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and other endocrine-disrupting compounds in indoor air and dust. Environ Sci Technol 37:4543–4553. https://doi.org/10.1021/es0264596
Shafei A et al (2018) Stop eating plastic, molecular signaling of bisphenol A in breast cancer. Environ Sci Pollut Res:1–7
Soni MG, Carabin IG, Burdock GA (2005) Safety assessment of esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (parabens). Food Chem Toxicol 43:985–1015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2005.01.020
Soni MG, Taylor SL, Greenberg NA, Burdock GA (2002) Evaluation of the health aspects of methyl paraben: a review of the published literature. Food Chem Toxicol 40:1335–1373. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-6915(02)00107-2
Tapia-Orozco N, Santiago-Toledo G, Barrón V, Espinosa-García AM, García-García JA, García-Arrazola R (2017) Environmental epigenomics: current approaches to assess epigenetic effects of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC’s) on human health. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2017.02.004
USEPA (2011) Exposure factors handbook. Office of Research and Development, Washington, 2011th edn. National Centre for Environmental Assessement, Washington, DC
Wang B et al (2016) Phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in an urban receiving river (Panlong river) of Yunnan-Guizhou plateau: occurrence, bioaccumulation and sources. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 128:133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2016.02.018
Zgoła-Grześkowiak A, Jeszka-Skowron M, Czarczyńska-Goślińska B, Grześkowiak T (2016) Determination of parabens in Polish river and lake water as a function of season. Anal Lett 49:1734–1747. https://doi.org/10.1080/00032719.2015.1120739
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the staff of the Reference Laboratory for drinking water for providing the facilities to achieve this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Ester Heath
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(PDF 374 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Radwan, E.K., Ibrahim, M.B., Adel, A. et al. The occurrence and risk assessment of phenolic endocrine-disrupting chemicals in Egypt’s drinking and source water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 1776–1788 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06887-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06887-0