Endocrine-disrupting equivalents in industrial effluents discharged into Yangtze River

The endocrine-disrupting equivalents in effluents from three chemical industry wastewater treatment systems in the vicinity of Yangtze River were determined by several transactivation reporter gene assays. Transient transfections of African green monkey kidney cell line (CV-1) were used to determine the estrogenic, anti-androgenic and anti-thyroid equivalents in the effluents. Organic extracts of the effluents contained compounds that were potent anti-androgens and the activities measured as an equivalent concentration of flutamide were 45.53, 34.65 and 91.61 nM, respectively. The extracts also contained detectable concentrations of thyroid antagonists. Estrogenic activities, measured with the reporter gene assay, were near or below the method detection limit (0.58 pM as E2). Concentrations of some of the major constituents such as di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, 2,6-dinitrotoluene and nitrobenzene were quantified. The data suggest that the reporter gene assay is useful to predication of endocrine disrupting effects in polluted aquatic body.