Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Occurrence, distribution, and sources of six phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in the 22 river estuaries around Dianchi Lake in China

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to track the occurrence, distribution, and sources of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in the 22 rivers around Dianchi Lake in China, to estimate the input and output amounts of phenolic EDCs in the water system, and to provide more comprehensive fundamental data for risk assessment and contamination control of phenolic EDCs in aquatic environment. Six phenolic EDCs were systematically evaluated in water and surface sediment in the estuaries of those rivers. The water and sediment samples were preconcentrated by solid-phase extraction system and microwave-assisted extraction system, respectively. Phenolic EDCs were analyzed by GC-MS (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) after derivatization. Phenolic EDCs were found ubiquitously in the aquatic environment. The total concentrations ranged from 248 to 4,650 ng/L in water, and 113 to 3,576 ng/g dry weight in surface sediment. The residue amount of phenolic EDCs in Dianchi Lake was 258 kg/a. Concentrations of the phenolic EDCs in the Lake decreased with increase in distance to the estuaries of those rivers which run through urban and industrial areas. The rivers seriously contaminated by phenolic EDCs were Xin River, Yunliang River, Chuanfang River, Cailian River, Jinjia River, Zhengda River, and Daqing River which run through the old area of Kunming City. Satisfying correlations were observed between the concentrations of the target compounds in water and in surface sediment. NP1EO, NP2EO, and BPA were identified as the three predominant phenolic EDCs. There were significant correlations between phenolic EDCs and many basic water quality parameters. Urban and industrial areas are the major contributors for phenolic EDCs, especially in Kunming City. Compositional profiles of phenolic EDCs in surface sediment were similar to those in river water. The concentrations of phenolic EDCs in the rivers located in the northwest part of the valley were very high, and posed a potential risk to aquatic organisms and even human. The concentrations of NP2EO, NP1EO, and BPA were at moderate levels of other areas. The basic water quality parameters (TOC, TN, DO, and pH) play important roles on the distribution, fate, and behavior of phenolic EDCs in the valley.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Cailleaud K, Forget-Leray J, Souissi S, Lardy S, Augagneur S, Budzinski H (2007) Seasonal variation of hydrophobic organic contaminant concentrations in the water-column of the Seine Estuary and their transfer to a planktonic species Eurytemora affinis (Calanoïd, copepod). Part 2: alkylphenol–polyethoxylates. Chemosphere 70:281–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duong CN, Schlenk D, Chang NI, Kim SD (2009) The effect of particle size on the bioavailability of estrogenic chemicals from sediments. Chemosphere 76:395–401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Funakoshi G, Kasuya S (2009) Influence of an estuary dam on the dynamics of bisphenol A and alkylphenols. Chemosphere 75:491–497

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giger W, Brunner PH, Schaffner C (1984) 4-Nonylphenol in sewage sludge: accumulation of toxic metabolites from nonionic surfactants. Science 225:623–625

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hibberd A, Maskaoui K, Zhang Z, Zhou JL (2009) An improved method for the simultaneous analysis of phenolic and steroidal estrogens in water and sediment. Talanta 77:1315–1321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hohne C, Puttmann W (2008) Occurrence and temporal variations of the xenoestrogens bisphenol A, 4-tert-octylphenol, and tech. 4-nonylphenol in two German wastewater treatment plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 15:405–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeannot R, Sabik H, Sauvard E, Dagnac T, Dohrendorf K (2002) Determination of endocrine-disrupting compounds in environmental samples using gas and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 974:143–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jin XL, Jiang GB, Huang GL, Liu JF, Zhou QF (2004) Determination of 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol and bisphenol A in surface waters from the Haihe River in Tianjin by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring. Chemosphere 56:1113–1119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jonkers N, Kohler HPE, Dammshäuser A, Giger W (2009) Mass flows of endocrine disruptors in the Glatt River during varying weather conditions. Environ Pollut 157:714–723

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kammann U, Vobach M, Wosniok W, Schaffer A, Telscher A (2009) Acute toxicity of 353-nonylphenol and its metabolites for zebrafish embryos. Environ Sci Pollut Res 16:227–231

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Guan YT, Tam NFY, Mizuno T, Tsuno H, Zhu WP (2010) Influence of rainfall and basic water quality parameters on the distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in coastal area. Water Air Soil Pollut 209:333–343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu J, Jin Q, He Y, Wu J, Zhao J (2008) Biodegradation of nonylphenol ethoxylates by Bacillus sp LY capable of heterotrophic nitrification. FEMS Microbiol Lett 280:28–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsushima A, Teramoto T, Okada H, Liu XH, Tokunaga T, Kakuta Y, Shimohigashi Y (2008) ERRγ tethers strongly bisphenol A and 4-α-cumylphenol in an induced-fit manner. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 373:408–413

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Navarro A, Endo S, Gocht T, Barth JAC, Lacorte S, Barceló D, Grathwohl P (2009) Sorption of alkylphenols on Ebro River sediments: comparing isotherms with field observations in river water and sediments. Environ Pollut 157:698–703

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patrolecco L, Capri S, De Angelis S, Pagnotta R, Polesello S, Valsecchi S (2006) Partition of nonylphenol and related compounds among different aquatic compartments in Tiber River (Central Italy). Water Air Soil Pollut 172:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quednow K, Püttmann W (2008) Endocrine disruptors in freshwater streams of Hesse, Germany: changes in concentration levels in the time span from 2003 to 2005. Environ Pollut 152:476–483

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soares A, Guieysse B, Jefferson B, Cartmell E, Lester JN (2008) Nonylphenol in the environment: a critical review on occurrence, fate, toxicity and treatment in wastewaters. Environ Int 34:1033–1049

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terasaki M, Shiraishi F, Nishikawa T, Edmonds JS, Morita M, Makino M (2005) Estrogenic activity of impurities in industrial grade bisphenol A. Environ Sci Technol 39:3703–3707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Wan X, Zhao SM, Wang Y, Yu F, Pan XJ (2011a) Analysis of six phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in surface water and sediment. Chromatographia 74:297–306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Ying GG, Zhao JL, Liu S, Yang B, Zhou LJ, Tao R, Su HC (2011b) Assessing estrogenic activity in surface water and sediment of the Liao River system in northeast China using combined chemical and biological tools. Environ Pollut 159:148–156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Huang B, Jin W, Wang Y, Zhao SM, Li FR, Hu P, Pan XJ (2012) Seasonal distribution, source investigation and vertical profile of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds in Dianchi Lake, China. J Environ Monit 14:1275–1282

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Wang P, Guo WF, Dong JX, Wang L, Dai SG (2006) Seasonal and spatial distribution of nonylphenol in Lanzhou Reach of Yellow River in China. Chemosphere 65:1445–1451

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ying GG, Williams B, Kookana R (2002) Environmental fate of alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates—a review. Environ Int 28:215–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YZ, Song XF, Kondoh A, Xia J, Tang CY (2011) Behavior, mass inventories and modeling evaluation of xenobiotic endocrine-disrupting chemicals along an urban receiving wastewater river in Henan Province, China. Water Res 45:292–302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao JL, Ying GG, Wang L, Yang JF, Yang XB, Yang LH, Li X (2009) Determination of phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals and acidic pharmaceuticals in surface water of the Pearl Rivers in South China by gas chromatography–negative chemical ionization–mass spectrometry. Sci Total Environ 407:962–974

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zuo YG, Zhang K, Lin YJ (2007) Microwave-accelerated derivatization for the simultaneous gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis of natural and synthetic estrogenic steroids. J Chromatogr A 1148:211–218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zuo YG, Zhang K, Wu JP, Men B, He MC (2011) Determination of o-phthalic acid in snow and its photochemical degradation by capillary gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization and mass spectrometric detection. Chemosphere 83:1014–1019

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 20767002), Environmental Protection Commonweal Scientific Research Foundation of China (grant no. 200809136), Yunnan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (grant no. 2007B035M), and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. KF2008-09).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650500, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Wang, Bin Huang, Wei Jin, Shimin Zhao & Xuejun Pan

  2. Kunming Environmental Monitoring Center, Kunming, Yunnan, 650228, People’s Republic of China

    Shimin Zhao, Farong Li & Ping Hu

Authors
  1. Bin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bin Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei Jin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shimin Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Farong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ping Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xuejun Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xuejun Pan.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Leif Kronberg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, B., Huang, B., Jin, W. et al. Occurrence, distribution, and sources of six phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in the 22 river estuaries around Dianchi Lake in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 3185–3194 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1236-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1236-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation