Abstract
Molecular epidemiology in human biomonitoring allows for verification of public exposure to chemical substances. Unfortunately, due to logistical difficulties and high cost, it evaluates only small study groups and as a result does not provide comprehensive large scale community-wide exposure data. Wastewater fingerprinting utilizing metabolic biomarkers of exposure that are excreted collectively by studied populations into urine and ultimately into the community's wastewater, provides a timely alternative to traditional approaches. This study aimed to provide comprehensive spatiotemporal community-wide exposure to bisphenol A (BPA, including BPA intake) using wastewater fingerprinting. Wastewater fingerprinting was undertaken using high resolution mass spectrometry retrospective data mining of characteristic BPA human metabolism marker (bisphenol A sulphate), applied to a large geographical area of 2000 km2 and a population of ~1.5 million served by 5 WWTPs (wastewater treatment plants) accounting for >75% of the overall population in the studied catchment. Community-wide BPA intake was found to be below temporary tolerable daily intake (t-TDI) level of 4 μg kg−1 day−1 set by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) suggesting overall low exposure at 3 WWTPs serving residential areas with low industrial/commercial presence. However, at two WWTPs serving communities with higher industrial/commercial presence, higher BPA sulphate loads corresponding to higher (up to 14 times) BPA intakes (exceeding 10 μg kg−1 day−1 at one WWTP and reaching 50 μg kg−1 day−1 at the second WWTP) were observed and they are likely linked with occupational exposure. Characteristic temporal variations of BPA intake were noted in most studied WWTPs with the lowest intake occurring during weekends and the highest during weekdays.
Highlights
BPA belongs to the group of endocrine disruptors (EDCs)
Analysis of solid and liquid fractions of wastewater collected from an activated sludge tank revealed that only a minor fraction of BPA sulphate adsorbs onto solid matter (< 7%), which indicates that the analysis of only aqueous fraction of wastewater for BPA sulphate is required in order to estimate BPA intake
To ensure high accuracy of measurements, internal standards were added to wastewater samples before filtration through GF/F filters, which is in the presence of suspended particulate matter (SPM), in order to correct for possible sorption of analytes to Suspended particulate matter (SPM)
Summary
BPA belongs to the group of endocrine disruptors (EDCs). EDCs are exogenous chemicals with the potential to interfere with the hormonal regulation, with the endocrine system, affecting health and reproduction in animals and humans. In the recent EU document ‘State of the art assessment of endocrine disrupters’ (Kortenkamp et al, 2011) there is an urgent call for new approaches to establish further evidence for humans' exposure to EDCs, especially those chemicals which are still not regulated (such as many suspected EDCs in personal care and consumer products). Regulatory decisions about endocrine disruptors will have to rely on weight-of-evidence procedures which are yet to be established (Kortenkamp et al, 2011).
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