Accumulation of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in Procambarus Virginalis tissue in Dnipro river: ecological and hygienic aspects

Abstract

At present among environmental toxicants, endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) gained the widest distribution due to their presence in chemicals in consumer products and food contact materials, pharmaceuticals, personal hygiene products, and as mycotoxins and phytoestrogens. They are used in animal husbandry as growth promoters and in crop production as pesticides and herbicides. EDCs pollution of water sources is becoming alarming due to the imperfection and difficulty of removing pollutants using traditional water and wastewater treatment processes. Given the EDS activity and genotoxicity, the discharge of these effluents may realize a high risk to aquatic organisms in the receiving environment. Natural and synthetic estrogens are among the most potent endocrine-disrupting compounds found in urban wastewater. The purpose of this work was to determine the concentration of hormones, namely estradiol and cortisol, in Procambarus virginalis hydrobionts of different ages from the Dnipro River in the city of Dnipro. In the presented work, based on a review of modern scientific sources and the results of our own research, emphasis is placed on the need to monitor the accumulation of hormone-like compounds in the tissues of aquatic organisms, namely crustaceans as markers of pollution of aquatic ecosystems by EDCs. The influence of substances destroying the endocrine system is especially dangerous during critical periods of the body’s development. In ecological conclusion, EDC accumulation in hydrobiont’s species may have a negative impact on species conservation. In hygienic aspect, these substances can affect humans through the food chain as consumers of fish products and seafood contaminated with such toxicants.