Abstract
This study aimed to assess the extent of pollution of aquatic ecosystems by endocrine disrupting estrogens particularly the ethinylestradiol (EE2), estrone (E2) and estradiol (E1). The study was carried out in Morogoro urban and peri-urban areas. The main sources of fresh water for domestic uses, fishing and agricultural activities in the study areas including the Mindu dam catchment area, Ngerengere and Morogoro Rivers were assessed. The endocrine disrupting estrogens in water samples were identified and quantified using competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. The recovery of estrogens in this study ranged from 65 to 90.22%, the range which is within the acceptable level. The levels of estrogens in Ngerengere River ranged from non-detectable levels to 0.68, 0.03 to 8.42 and 0.05 to 16.97 ng/L for EE2, E2 and E1, respectively. At Mindu Dam the levels ranged from 0.07 to 0.3 ng/L, 0.41 to 2.1 ng/L and 2.6 to 6.5 ng/L for EE2, E2 and E1 respectively. Furthermore, for Morogoro River the levels ranged from undetected to 0.92, 0.34 to 9.53 and 0.17 to 11.49 ng/L for EE2, E2 and E1 respectively. Mean concentrations in control samples and those in upstream and midstream of the rivers were comparable (p > 0.05). But the mean concentrations in downstream portions were significantly higher than those in control samples (p < 0.05). These concentrations however, were below those reported in other studies to cause harmful health effects. Hence, the extent of pollution was not significant enough to cause adverse health effects to aquatic organisms and human. Key words: Ethinylestradiol, estradiol, estrone, micro pollutants, Ngerengere River, Morogoro River.
Highlights
The aquatic ecosystems are the ultimate sink of most environmental pollutants originating from natural and anthropogenic sources such as industries, livestock farms, agricultural fields, hospital wastes, domestic wastes and municipal effluents
Endocrine disrupting estrogens are among the emerging pollutants which end up in aquatic environment (Snyder et al, 2009)
The results indicate that there were no significant difference in levels in upstream and midstream for all three estrogens (p ≥ 0.05)
Summary
The aquatic ecosystems are the ultimate sink of most environmental pollutants originating from natural and anthropogenic sources such as industries, livestock farms, agricultural fields, hospital wastes, domestic wastes and municipal effluents. Endocrine disrupting estrogens are among the emerging pollutants which end up in aquatic environment (Snyder et al, 2009). They are termed emerging because there are no established guidelines for environmental monitoring have adverse health effects to wildlife and human (Nosek et al, 2014). Estrogens are potent endocrine disruptors at concentrations frequently observed in surface water (Wedekind, 2014). They tend to bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms, such as algae which acts as scavenger or sinks for estrogens (Maes, 2011). Food-web model predicted the bioaccumulation of estrogens in all organisms at low level (Lai et al, 2002)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call