Improvements in Wastewater Treatment Reduces Endocrine Disruption in Fish Completed
The Boulder Wastewater Treatment Facility, Colorado (circa 2005)
A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Colorado, and the City of Boulder, Colorado, demonstrated that improvements to the treatment process at a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) reduced the level of endocrine disruption in fish exposed to wastewater effluent discharged from the facility. It is difficult to anticipate the effects that upgrading WWTF operations might have on stream ecosystems. In a recent article in Environmental Science and Technology the scientists report on a multiyear experiment to evaluate the impact on wastewater quality of a major upgrade to the Boulder, Colorado, WWTF. The facility was converted from a biological filter plant with solids contact to an activated sludge plant.
What They Did
In 2005 and 2007 the scientists established the water-quality conditions and level of fish endocrine disruption in test organisms before the upgrade. A similar set of investigations was conducted in 2008 and 2011 to document conditions after the upgrade. The two studies evaluated a wide variety of organic and inorganic contaminants and tracked their concentrations through the various treatment processes. Fish endocrine disruption was measured during controlled, 28-day onsite continuous-flow exposure experiments using different dilutions of wastewater. The fish experiments used sexually mature male fathead minnows and multiple indicators of endocrine disruption (biomarkers).
What They Found
The scientists found that the WWTF upgrade resulted in enhanced removal of hormones (steroidal estrogens) and other endocrine disrupting compounds from the wastewater, as well as a decrease in fish endocrine disruption. This research was funded by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area’s Environmental Health Program (Contaminant Biology and Toxic Substances Hydrology) and Hydrologic Research and Development Programs, and the National Science Foundation.
References
Barber, L.B., Vajda, A.M., Douville, C., Norris, D.O., and Writer, J.H., 2012, Fish endocrine disruption responses to a major wastewater treatment facility upgrade: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 46, no. 4, p. 2121-2131, doi:10.1021/es202880e.
Bradley, P.M., 2008, Potential for biodegradation of contaminants of emerging concern in streams systems, in Proceedings of the 2008 South Carolina Water Resources Conference, Charleston, S.C., October 14-15, 2008: (Presentation).
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team
Biological Activity of Steroid Hormones in U.S. Streams
Chemical Combo and Intersex Fish Found at Smallmouth Bass Nesting Sites
Complex Mixture of Contaminants Persists in Streams Miles from the Source
Hormones in Land-Applied Biosolids Could Affect Aquatic Organisms
New Knowledge on the Fate and Transport of Emerging Contaminants in Rivers
Hormones Degrade in the Environment!
Antidepressants in Stream Waters! Are They in the Fish Too?
Tackling Fish Endocrine Disruption
Below are publications associated with this project.
Biodegradation of 17β-estradiol, estrone and testosterone in stream sediments
Biodegradation of 17β-estradiol, estrone, and testosterone in stream sediments
Reproductive disruption in fish downstream from an estrogenic wastewater effluent
Potential for 4-n-nonylphenol biodegradation in stream sediments
Impairment of the reproductive potential of male fathead minnows by environmentally relevant exposures to 4-nonylphenolf
Reproductive responses of male fathead minnows exposed to wastewater treatment plant effluent, effluent treated with XAD8 resin, and an environmentally relevant mixture of alkylphenol compounds
State of the watershed: Water quality of Boulder Creek, Colorado
Larval exposure to environmentally relevant mixtures of alkylphenolethoxylates reduces reproductive competence in male fathead minnows
Chemical loading into surface water along a hydrological, biogeochemical, and land use gradient: A holistic watershed approach
Aqueous stability of gadolinium in surface waters receiving sewage treatment plant effluent Boulder Creek, Colorado
Comprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000
- Overview
A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Colorado, and the City of Boulder, Colorado, demonstrated that improvements to the treatment process at a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) reduced the level of endocrine disruption in fish exposed to wastewater effluent discharged from the facility. It is difficult to anticipate the effects that upgrading WWTF operations might have on stream ecosystems. In a recent article in Environmental Science and Technology the scientists report on a multiyear experiment to evaluate the impact on wastewater quality of a major upgrade to the Boulder, Colorado, WWTF. The facility was converted from a biological filter plant with solids contact to an activated sludge plant.
What They Did
In 2005 and 2007 the scientists established the water-quality conditions and level of fish endocrine disruption in test organisms before the upgrade. A similar set of investigations was conducted in 2008 and 2011 to document conditions after the upgrade. The two studies evaluated a wide variety of organic and inorganic contaminants and tracked their concentrations through the various treatment processes. Fish endocrine disruption was measured during controlled, 28-day onsite continuous-flow exposure experiments using different dilutions of wastewater. The fish experiments used sexually mature male fathead minnows and multiple indicators of endocrine disruption (biomarkers).
What They Found
The scientists found that the WWTF upgrade resulted in enhanced removal of hormones (steroidal estrogens) and other endocrine disrupting compounds from the wastewater, as well as a decrease in fish endocrine disruption. This research was funded by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area’s Environmental Health Program (Contaminant Biology and Toxic Substances Hydrology) and Hydrologic Research and Development Programs, and the National Science Foundation.
References
Barber, L.B., Vajda, A.M., Douville, C., Norris, D.O., and Writer, J.H., 2012, Fish endocrine disruption responses to a major wastewater treatment facility upgrade: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 46, no. 4, p. 2121-2131, doi:10.1021/es202880e.
Bradley, P.M., 2008, Potential for biodegradation of contaminants of emerging concern in streams systems, in Proceedings of the 2008 South Carolina Water Resources Conference, Charleston, S.C., October 14-15, 2008: (Presentation).
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team
The team studies toxicants and pathogens in water resources from their sources, through watersheds, aquifers, and infrastructure to human and wildlife exposures. That information is used to develop decision tools that protect human and wildlife health.Filter Total Items: 20Biological Activity of Steroid Hormones in U.S. Streams
Testing of U.S. streams has detected glucocorticoid and androgen biological activity. In a collaborative study between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and others, scientists studied the potential for the biological activity in streams of glucocorticoids and androgens hormones—both potential endocrine...Chemical Combo and Intersex Fish Found at Smallmouth Bass Nesting Sites
Chemical contaminants including herbicides, veterinary pharmaceuticals, and biogenic hormones have been detected at fish nesting sites in the Potomac River watershed where endocrine disruption in smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu ) was also observed. Although these contaminants are known to originate from a variety of human and animal-waste sources, results of a recent U.S. Geological Survey...Complex Mixture of Contaminants Persists in Streams Miles from the Source
Natural processes in stream ecosystems such as dilution and microbial degradation are known to attenuate some contaminants to below levels that can cause harm to ecosystems. However, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists has shown that many chemicals discharged from municipal wastewater treatment facilities persist for miles downstream at levels known, or suspected, to cause adverse...Hormones in Land-Applied Biosolids Could Affect Aquatic Organisms
Hormones from biosolids applied to fields may be present in rainfall runoff at concentrations that are high enough to impact the health of aquatic organisms if the runoff reaches streams, report scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University in Environmental Science and Technology . Artificial rainfall runoff from agricultural test plots where biosolids were...New Knowledge on the Fate and Transport of Emerging Contaminants in Rivers
A detergent degradation product (4-nonylphenol) and a biogenic hormone (17β-estradiol) added to the Redwood River, Minnesota, were attenuated by biodegradation and other natural processes. These are the findings of a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Colorado scientists.Hormones Degrade in the Environment!
In two separate studies, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists demonstrated that hormones such as estrogen can biodegrade in stream and groundwater environments. This is an important finding because the science, regulatory, and environmental communities have concerns about the environmental fate of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as hormones, in the human wastewaters discharged to the...Antidepressants in Stream Waters! Are They in the Fish Too?
For some fish living downstream of sewage treatment plants the answer is yes. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and their colleagues published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology documenting that specific antidepressants and their degradates found in wastewater discharged into streams by municipal wastewater treatment plants are taken up into the bodies of fish living downstream...Tackling Fish Endocrine Disruption
Intersex, the presence of both male and female characteristics within the same fish, is being observed in fish in more streams across the Nation. Intersex is one manifestation of endocrine disruption in fish. Endocrine disruption can result in adverse effects on the development of the brain and nervous system, the growth and function of the reproductive system, and the response to stressors in the... - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 23Biodegradation of 17β-estradiol, estrone and testosterone in stream sediments
Biodegradation of 17β-estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and testosterone (T) was investigated in three wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) affected streams in the United States. Relative differences in the mineralization of [4-14C] substrates were assessed in oxic microcosms containing saturated sediment or water-only from locations upstream and downstream of the WWTP outfall in each system. Upstream seAuthorsPaul M. Bradley, Larry B. Barber, Francis H. Chapelle, James L. Gray, Dana W. Kolpin, Peter B. McMahonBiodegradation of 17β-estradiol, estrone, and testosterone in stream sediments
The release of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent poses a significant threat to the ecology of surface water receptors, due to impacts on the hormonal control, sexual development, reproductive success and community structure of the indigenous aquatic organisms and associated wildlife. Among the EDCs commonly observed in WWTP effluent, the natural [eAuthorsP. M. Bradley, F. H. Chapelle, L. B. Barber, P. B. McMahon, J.L. Gray, D.W. KolpinReproductive disruption in fish downstream from an estrogenic wastewater effluent
To assess the impact of an estrogenic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent on fish reproduction, white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) were collected from immediately upstream and downstream (effluent site) of the city of Boulder, CO, WWTP outfall. Gonadal intersex, altered sex ratios, reduced gonad size, disrupted ovarian and testicular histopathology, and vitellogenin induction consistentAuthorsA.M. Vajda, Larry B. Barber, James L. Gray, E.M. Lopez, John D. Woodling, David O. NorrisPotential for 4-n-nonylphenol biodegradation in stream sediments
The potential for in situ biodegradation of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) was investigated in three hydrologically distinct streams impacted by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States. Microcosms were prepared with sediments from each site and amended with [U-ring-14C]4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP) as a model test substrate. Microcosms prepared with sediment collected upstream of the WWTP outfalAuthorsP. M. Bradley, L. B. Barber, D.W. Kolpin, P. B. McMahon, F. H. ChapelleImpairment of the reproductive potential of male fathead minnows by environmentally relevant exposures to 4-nonylphenolf
The synthetic organic compound 4-nonylphenol (NP) has been detected in many human-impacted surface waters in North America. In this study, we examined the ability of NP to alter reproductive competence in male fathead minnows after a 28 day flow-through exposure in a range of environmentally relevant concentrations bracketing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxicity-based NP chronic exposAuthorsH.L. Schoenfuss, S.E. Bartell, T.B. Bistodeau, R.A. Cediel, K.J. Grove, Larry Zintek, K. E. Lee, L. B. BarberReproductive responses of male fathead minnows exposed to wastewater treatment plant effluent, effluent treated with XAD8 resin, and an environmentally relevant mixture of alkylphenol compounds
On-site, continuous-flow experiments were conducted during August and October 2002 at a major metropolitan wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to determine if effluent exposure induced endocrine disruption as manifested in the reproductive competence of sexually mature male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). The fathead minnows were exposed in parallel experiments to WWTP effluent and WWTP effluAuthorsLarry B. Barber, Kathy Lee, Deborah L. Swackhamer, Heiko L. SchoenfussState of the watershed: Water quality of Boulder Creek, Colorado
No abstract available.AuthorsSheila F. MurphyLarval exposure to environmentally relevant mixtures of alkylphenolethoxylates reduces reproductive competence in male fathead minnows
The ubiquitous presence of nonylphenolethoxylate/octylphenolethoxylate (NPE/OPE) compounds in aquatic environments adjacent to wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) warrants an assessment of the endocrine disrupting potential of these complex mixtures on aquatic vertebrates. In this study, fathead minnow larvae were exposed for 64 days to a mixture of NPE/OPE, which closely models the NPE/OPE composiAuthorsT.J. Bistodeau, L. B. Barber, S.E. Bartell, R.A. Cediel, K.J. Grove, J. Klaustermeier, J.C. Woodard, K. E. Lee, H.L. SchoenfussChemical loading into surface water along a hydrological, biogeochemical, and land use gradient: A holistic watershed approach
Identifying the sources and impacts of organic and inorganic contaminants at the watershed scale is a complex challenge because of the multitude of processes occurring in time and space. Investigation of geochemical transformations requires a systematic evaluation of hydrologic, landscape, and anthropogenic factors. The 1160 km2 Boulder Creek Watershed in the Colorado Front Range encompasses a graAuthorsL. B. Barber, S.F. Murphy, P. L. Verplanck, Mark W. Sandstrom, Howard E. Taylor, E. T. FurlongAqueous stability of gadolinium in surface waters receiving sewage treatment plant effluent Boulder Creek, Colorado
In many surface waters, sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent is a substantial source of both regulated and unregulated contaminants, including a suite of complex organic compounds derived from household chemicals, pharmaceutical, and industrial and medical byproducts. In addition, STP effluents in some urban areas have also been shown to have a positive gadolinium (Gd) anomaly in the rare earth eAuthorsP. L. Verplanck, Howard E. Taylor, D. Kirk Nordstrom, L. B. BarberComprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000
Executive SummaryThe Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, is 1160 square kilometers in area and ranges in elevation from 1480 to 4120 meters above sea level. Streamflow originates primarily as snowmelt near the Continental Divide, and thus discharge varies seasonally and annually (Chapter 1). Most of the water in Boulder Creek is diverted for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. Some diverted