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Monitoring of Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Surface Water and Sediments of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China

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Abstract

Occurrence and distribution of eight selected endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including estrone (E1), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17α-estradiol (αE2), 17β-estradiol (βE2), estriol (E3), bisphenol A (BPA), 4-nonylphenol (NP), and 4-octylphenol (OP), were investigated in surface water and sediments of the Three Gorges Reservoir region (TGRR). The mean concentrations of E1, αE2, βE2, E3, EE2, BPA, NP, and OP were 10.3, 3.3, 3.7, 17.2, 7.8, 26.6, 10.8, and 32.3 ng L−1 respectively in surface water and 2.6, 4.1, 7.7, 2.4, 11.8, 17.4, 5.0, and 5.3 ng g−1 dry weight (dw) respectively in sediments. BPA, NP, and OP were the main EDCs in both media. Distributions of EDCs in surface water and sediments varied significantly in space but not synchronously. The higher EDCs abundance was found in the upstream water of the TGRR. EDCs concentrations in sediments had no correlations with those in water and the total organic carbon content in sediments. EDCs presented low to high risks in the water, and steroidal estrogens were the main contributors to the total estrogenic activities.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported in part by Natural Science Key Foundation of Hubei Province of China (NO. 2014CFA114), Funding Project of Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y623321K01), and the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y329671K01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Wenfeng Wang, Anne Wairimu Ndungu & Jun Wang

  2. Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Anne Wairimu Ndungu & Jun Wang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wenfeng Wang & Anne Wairimu Ndungu

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  1. Wenfeng Wang
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  2. Anne Wairimu Ndungu
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Correspondence to Jun Wang.

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Wang, W., Ndungu, A.W. & Wang, J. Monitoring of Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Surface Water and Sediments of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 71, 509–517 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-016-0319-z

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