Temporal-Spatial Distribution and Risk Assessment of Estrogenic Compounds in the Rivers around the Northern Taihu Lake

Abstract

Investigate Five Estrogenic compounds (E1, E2, E3, EE2, and BPA) in the rivers around the northern Taihu Lake to realize their distributions in different regions. The results show the median concentrations of four estrogenic compounds range from 1.96 to 143.29ng/L, with the detection proportions ranging from 12.5% to 100%, respectively. The concentrations of estrogenic compounds in waters reveal regular changes with seasons, higher contents in winter. Besides, considerable variations spatially are observed in the different rivers. Levels of estrogenic compounds in rivers of Yixing City are higher than those of Suzhou City and Wuxi City. Using the calculation of risk quotient (RQ) assessed the risk. The RQ values of E1, E2, E3 and BPA are 0.02~1.87, 1.28~23.22, 0.01~0.80 and 0.03~0.44 respectively, which indicate that harmful ecological effects might happen in some rivers.