Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 48, Issue 20, Pages 12354-12361Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/es503574z
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Funding
- European Community [MEST-CT-2004-505169]
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Bioconcentration and transformation of the potent and persistent xeno-estrogen 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) by organisms at the basis of the food web have received only little research attention. In this study, uptake, elimination, and biotransformation of radiolabeled EE2 (C-14-EE2) by the freshwater green alga Desmodesmus subspicatus were investigated. The alga highly incorporated radioactivity following C-14-EE2 exposure. Up to 68% of the test compound was removed from the medium by D. subspicatus within a rather short time period (72 h C-algae/C-water: 2200 L/kg wet weight). When the algae were transported to clear medium, a two-stage release pattern was observed with an initially quick elimination phase following slower clearance afterward. Interestingly, D. subspicatus brominated EE2 when bromide was available in the medium, a transformation process demonstrated to occur abiotically but not by algae. The consequence of the presence of more hydrophobic mono- and dibrominated EE2 in the environment remains to be further investigated, as these products were shown to have a lower estrogenic potency but are expected to have a higher bioaccumulation potential and to be more toxic than the mother compound.
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