Monitoring of Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Surface Water and Sediments of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China

Concentration of steroid hormones in sediment of surface water resources in China: systematic review and meta-analysis with ecological risk assessment

The risk quotient (RQ) related to Estrone (E1), 17β-E2 (E2), Estriol (E3) and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) in sediment of water resources in China was calculated using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. Fifty-four papers with 64 data-reports included in our study. The rank order of steroid hormones in sediment based on log-normal distribution in MCS was E1 (3.75 ng/g dw) > E3 (1.53 ng/g dw) > EE2 (1.38 ng/g dw) > E2 (1.17 ng/g dw). According to results, concentration of steroid hormones including E1, E2 and E3 in sediment of Erhai lake, northern Taihu lake and Dianchi river was higher than other locations. The rank order of steroid hormones based on percentage high risk (RQ > 1) was EE2 (87.00%) > E1 (70.00%) > E2 (62.99%) > E3 (11.11%). Hence, contamination control plans for steroid hormones in sediment of water resources in China should be conducted continuously.

Steroid hormones in surface water resources in China: systematic review and meta-analysis and probabilistic ecological risk assessment

A Search was conducted in international databases including Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from 10 January 2005 to 15 January 2023. The risk quotient (RQ) of Estrone (E1), 17β-E2 (E2), and Estriol (E3) on the surface water resources of China was calculated by Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) technique. The rank order of steroid hormones based on pooled (weighted average) concentration in surface water was E3 (2.15 ng/l) > E2 (2.01 ng/l) > E1 (1.385 ng/l). The concentration of E1 in Dianchi lake (236.50.00 ng/l), 17β-E2 in Licun river (78.50 ng/l), and E3 in Dianchi lake (103.1 ng/l) were higher than in other surface water resources in China. RQ related to E1, 17β-E2 and E3 in 68.00%, 88.89% and 3.92% of surface water resources were high ecological risk, respectively. Therefore, carrying out source control plans for steroid hormones in surface water sources should be conducted continuously.

Selected legacy and emerging organic contaminants in sediments of China's Yangtze - the world's third longest river: Response to anthropogenic activities

To explore contaminant concerns as a result of anthropogenic disturbance of the river system, this study provided the first extensive investigation of the contamination profiles, possible driving factors, and ecological risks of 40 target compounds including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), neonicotinoid pesticides (NNIs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediments of the whole Yangtze River (the world's third longest river). Among these target compounds, PPCPs were the dominant contaminants with a total concentration (∑15PPCPs) of 2.13-14.99 ng/g, followed by ∑7PCBs ( Collapse

Key Words

• NNIs
• PBDEs
• PCBs
• PPCPs
• Sediment
• Yangtze River

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MESH Headings

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls/analysis
• Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers/analysis
• Anthropogenic Effects
• Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis
• Rivers/chemistry
• Plastics
• Environmental Monitoring/methods
• Geologic Sediments/chemistry
• China

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Affiliation(s)

Yulin Chen Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK
Yang Tan Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China
Yuying Feng Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China
Tao Dong Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China
Chunxia Jiang Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
Chen Wang The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK
Yuyi Yang Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
Zulin Zhang Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK.

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Assessment of occurrence, partitioning and ecological risk for 144 steroid hormones in Taihu Lake using UPLC-MS/MS with machine learning model

Steroid hormones (SHs) have attracted mounting attention due to their endocrine-disrupting effects on humans and aquatic organisms. However, the lack of analytical methods and toxicity data for a large number of SHs has limited the effective management of SH contamination in the water-sediment systems. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of 144 SHs to investigate their occurrence, spatial distribution and partitioning in the water and sediment in Taihu Lake. The results showed that the total concentrations of SHs in water and sediment were 366.88-998.23 ng/L (mean: 612.84 ng/L) and 17.46-150.20 ng/g (mean: 63.41 ng/g), respectively. The spatial distribution of SHs in Taihu Lake might be simultaneously influenced by the pollution sources, lake hydrodynamics, and sediment properties. The sediment-water partitioning result implied that 28 SHs were in dynamic equilibrium at the water-water interface. In addition, 22 and 12 SHs tended to spread to water and settle into sediment, respectively. To assess the ecological risk of all SHs, a robust random forest model (R2 = 0.801) was developed to predict the acute toxicity of SHs for which toxicity data were not available from publications. Risk assessment showed that SHs posed a high ecological risk throughout Taihu Lake, with the highest risk in the northwestern areas. Estrone, 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethynylestradiol were the dominant risk contributors and were therefore recommended as the priority SHs in Taihu Lake. This work provided a valuable dataset for Taihu Lake, which would help to provide guidance and suggestions for future studies and be useful for the government to develop the mitigation and management measures.

Occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the surface water of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Henan section)

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are commonly seen emerging organic contaminants in aquatic environments. The transects for the occurrence and distribution of 24 PPCPs along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Henan section) were investigated in this study. All 24 targeted compounds were detected in surface water, with concentrations in the range from not detected (ND) to 527.4 ng/L. Among these PPCPs, caffeine is found to have the highest concentration and its detection frequency is 100%. The total PPCP concentration ranged from 136 ng/L to 916 ng/L (median, 319.5 ng/L). Spatial analysis showed that the pollution level of PPCPs in the trunk stream was lower than that in most tributaries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Henan section). The ecotoxicological risk assessment indicated that norfloxacin, azithromycin, estrone, and triclosan posed high risks to aquatic organisms (RQ > 1), roxithromycin and oxytetracycline imposed moderate risks (0.1 ≤ RQ < 1), and the tributary Jindi River had the highest mixed risk (MRQ = 222).

Distribution and Estrogenic Risk of Alkylphenolic Compounds, Hormones and Drugs Contained in Water and Natural Surface Sediments, Morelos, Mexico

This study evaluated the distribution and potential estrogenic risk of the presence of bisphenol A (BPA), 4-nonylphenol (4NP), naproxen (NPX), ibuprofen (IBU), 17-β-estradiol (E2) and 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in water and sediments of the Apatlaco river micro-basin (Morelos, Mexico). The concentration of the determined compounds ranged between <LOD to 86.40 ng·L−1 and <LOD to 3.97 ng g−1 in water and sediments, respectively. The Log Kd distribution obtained (from 1.05 to 1.91 L Kg−1) indicates that the compounds tend to be adsorbed in sediments, which is probably due to the hydrophobic interactions confirmed by the significant correlations determined mainly between the concentrations and parameters of total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS), biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Of five sites analyzed, four presented estrogenic risk due to the analyzed endocrine-disrupting compounds (EEQE2 > 1 ng·L−1).

Biosafety assessment of Acinetobacter strains isolated from the Three Gorges Reservoir region in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Acinetobacter has been frequently detected in backwater areas of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) region. We here employed Caenorhabditis elegans to perform biosafety assessment of Acinetobacter strains isolated from backwater area in the TGR region. Among 21 isolates and 5 reference strains of Acinetobacter, exposure to Acinetobacter strains of AC1, AC15, AC18, AC21, A. baumannii ATCC 19606T, A. junii NH88-14, and A. lwoffii DSM 2403T resulted in significant decrease in locomotion behavior and reduction in lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans. In nematodes, exposure to Acinetobacter strains of AC1, AC15, AC18, AC21, A. baumannii, A. junii and A. lwoffii also resulted in significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Moreover, exposure to Acinetobacter isolates of AC1, AC15, AC18, and AC21 led to significant increase in expressions of both SOD-3::GFP and some antimicrobial genes (lys-1, spp-12, lys-7, dod-6, spp-1, dod-22, lys-8, and/or F55G11.4) in nematodes. The Acinetobacter isolates of AC1, AC15, AC18, and AC21 had different morphological, biochemical, phylogenetical, and virulence gene properties. Our results suggested that exposure risk of some Acinetobacter strains isolated from the TGR region exists for environmental organisms and human health. In addition, C. elegans is useful to assess biosafety of Acinetobacter isolates from the environment.

Sediments in the mangrove areas contribute to the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals in coastal sediments of Macau SAR, China, and harbour microbial communities capable of degrading E2, EE2, BPA and BPS

The occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is a major issue for marine and coastal environments in the proximity of urban areas. The occurrence of EDCs in the Pearl River Delta region is well documented but specific data related to Macao is unavailable. The levels of bisphenol-A (BPA), estrone (E1), 17α-estradiol (αE2), 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) were measured in sediment samples collected along the coastline of Macao. BPA was found in all 45 collected samples with lower BPA concentrations associated to the presence of mangrove trees. Biodegradation assays were performed to evaluate the capacity of the microbial communities of the surveyed ecosystems to degrade BPA and its analogue BPS. Using sediments collected at a WWTP discharge point as inoculum, at a concentration of 2 mg l^-1 complete removal of BPA was observed within 6 days, whereas for the same concentration BPS removal was of 95% after 10 days, which is particularly interesting since this compound is considered recalcitrant to biodegradation and likely to accumulate in the environment. Supplementation with BPA improved the degradation of bisphenol-S (BPS). Aiming at the isolation of EDCs-degrading bacteria, enrichments were established with sediments supplied with BPA, BPS, E2 and EE2, which led to the isolation of a bacterial strain, identified as Rhodoccoccus sp. ED55, able to degrade the four compounds at different extents. The isolated strain represents a valuable candidate for bioremediation of contaminated soils and waters.

A review of distribution and risk of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the aquatic environment in China

Due to the extensive use and pseudo-persistence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), they are frequently detected in the aqueous environment, which has attracted global attention. In this paper, accumulation data of 81 PPCPs in surface water or sediment in China were reported. In addition, 20 kinds of PPCPs with high frequency were selected and their ecological risk assessment was conducted by risk quotient (RQs). The results indicated that the concentration detected in surface water and sediment ranged from ng/L (ng/kg) to μg/L (μg/kg) in China, which was similar to concentrations reported globally. However, contamination by certain PPCPs, such as caffeine, oxytetracycline, and erythromycin, was relatively high with a maximum concentration of more than 2000 ng/L in surface water. RQs revealed that 14 kinds of PPCPs pose no significant risk or low risk to aquatic organisms, while 6 kinds of PPCPs pose a high risk. Additionally, the pollution characteristics of PPCPs in each watershed are different. The Haihe River watershed and the central and lower Yangtze River were the regions of high concern for erythromycin. Triclosan has potential risks in the Pearl River watershed. This study determined the occurrence and risk of PPCPs in China in the past decade, providing a scientific basis for PPCPs pollution control and risk prevention.

Endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the aquatic environment of China: Which chemicals are the prioritized ones?

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been of great concern as emerging contaminants of aquatic environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify top contaminants so as to allocate better management measures. A list of 77 pharmaceuticals, 20 personal care products (PCPs) and 36 EDCs that were frequently detected in Chinese surface waters was examined in this study. The reported chemicals were concentrated in the highly populated and industrialized areas of China (e.g. the Bohai region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta). The concentrations of EDCs and PPCPs were closely related to human domestic sewage and industrial wastewater discharge, and they were generally higher than or at least comparable to most of global rivers. Based on the proximity between the medians of reported exposure concentrations and effect concentrations, the risk ranking results showed that EDCs, e.g. estrone (E1), estriol (E3), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), and PCPs, e.g. triclocarban (TCC), triclosan (TCS), were deemed to represent higher risks to aquatic organisms across China, as well as the Northern rivers (including the Bohai region), Yangtze River Basin, and Pearl River Basin. Pharmaceuticals posed relatively lower risks to organisms owing to their higher effect concentrations. By comparison, the Northern rivers were hotspots where many chemicals were identified as posing greater risks than the Yangtze River Basin and Pearl River Basin. Fish was the most sensitive taxa to 17β-estradiol (βE2) and EE2, which was almost 100,000 times higher risk than algae and worms. Atrazine (ATZ) and galaxolide (HHCB), posed comparably higher risks to algae and worms. The results of this work provide a sound guidance for future monitoring and management of chemicals in China.

Determination of bisphenol A in barreled drinking water by a SPE-LC-MS method

A quantitative method was established to determine the well-known endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) in barreled drinking water. Samples were pretreated by solid phase extraction (SPE), and then analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Working standard solutions were obtained by pretreatment of a series of aqueous standard solutions over the concentration range of 122.9-1190.7 ng L^-1. The linear calibration curve was Y = 69.4X + 2206.2 with the correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.9929. The average recoveries from spiked samples were more than 91.6%. The relative standard deviations (n = 6) were less than 9.6%. The method allowed the detection of 7.0 ng L^-1 BPA in barreled drinking water. Typical barreled drinking water products in the market were detected. As results, thirty-five of fifty-two commercial samples were found to contain BPA with a maximum concentration of 898.7 ng L^-1. The occurrence of BPA in barreled drinking water may be due to the pollution of raw water, the inefficiency of purification processes and the migration of BPA from barrels. The daily exposure of adults to BPA through drinking barreled drinking water is far below the current human tolerable daily intake (TDI) set by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Multi-phase distribution and risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the surface water of the Shaying River, -Huai River Basin, China

Herein we investigated the multi-phase distribution and estrogenic effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in suspended particulate matter (SPM), colloids, and soluble phases from the Shaying River to assess the composition of estrogenic compounds and associated estrogenic risk. The yeast two hybrid (YES) method, cross-flow ultrafiltration (CFUF), and LC-MS/MS were employed. Risk quotient (RQ) values ranged from 0.72 to 3.88, revealing that the Shaying River posed high estrogenic risk to aquatic organisms. The contribution ratios of the target EDCs to the EEQ_YES ranged from 62.7% to 92.5%, indicating that these chemicals were major contributors of estrogenic effects in the Shaying River. Further, 54.0-77.8% of the detected EDCs were distributed in the soluble phase, 15.1-31.7% were bound to colloidal substances, and 3.90-19.4% EDCs were associated with SPM. Significant correlation between total EDC abundance and COD contents was detected, and the concentrations of endogenous estrogens (E1, E2, and E3) were positively correlated with total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). In addition, the in-situ SPM-soluble (Kpoc) and colloid-soluble partition (Kcoc) coefficients were calculated. The log Kpoc values of target compounds varied from 4.10 to 5.19, while log Kcoc values ranged from 4.25 to 5.56. Their Kcoc values were larger than the Kpoc values, indicating that organic colloids were the most important carriers of EDCs in the aquatic environment.

Occurrence, behavior and risk assessment of estrogens in surface water and sediments from Hanjiang River, Central China

Estrogens have been widely detected in water and might pose a potential threat to the aquatic ecosystem. However, little information is available about the occurrence, multi-phase fate and potential risks of estrogens in Hanjiang River (HR). In this work, the concentration, multi-phase distribution and risk assessment of eight estrogens were studied by investigating surface water and sediment samples from HR during two seasons. These samples were analyzed using the solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The concentrations of eight estrogens were 4.5-111 ng/l in surface water and 1.7-113 ng/g dry weight in sediments. 4-nonylphenol (NP) was the predominant estrogen in both water and sediments. The estrogens showed significantly spatial variability, with the highest average concentration in the lower section of HR (p < 0.01, F > 12.21). Meanwhile, NP, 17α-estradiol (αE2), Bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-tert-octyphenol (OP) in surface water exhibited higher concentrations in summer than in winter (p < 0.05, F > 4.62). The sediment-water partition coefficients of estrogens suggested that these compounds partitioned more to particulate phase. Risk assessment indicated that estriol (E3) was the main contributor to the total estradiol equivalent concentration. Moreover, estrogen mixtures could pose high ecological risks to aquatic organisms in surface water. Overall, estrogens are ubiquitous in HR, and their potential ecological risks should not be neglected.

Neurotoxicity of nonylphenol exposure on Caenorhabditis elegans induced by reactive oxidative species and disturbance synthesis of serotonin

The present study was performed to evaluate the neurobehavioural deficit induced by nonylphenol (NP), a well-known xenobiotic chemical. The neurotoxic mechanism from oxidative stress and serotonin-related progress was also investigated. Caenorhabditis elegans was exposed at different levels of NP ranging from 0 to 200 μg L^-1 for 10 days. The results revealed that from a relatively low concentration (i.e., 10 μg L^-1), significant effects including decreased head thrashes, body bends and forging behaviour could be observed, along with impaired learning and memory behaviour plasticity. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in head was significantly elevated with the increase of NP concentrations from 10 to 200 μg L^-1. Through antioxidant experiment, the oxidative damage caused by NP restored to some extent. At a NP concentration of 200 μg L^-1, the significant increased expression of stress-related genes, including sod-1, sod-3, ctl-2, ctl-3 and cyp-35A2 gene, was observed from integrated gene expression profiles. In addition, in comparison with wild-type N2 worms, the ROS accumulation was increased significantly with the mutation of sod-3. Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) in ADF and NSM neurons sharply decreased at the concentrations of 10-200 μg L^-1. The transcription of TPH synthesis-related genes and serotonin-related genes were both suppressed, including tph-1, cat-1, cat-4, ser-1, and mod-5. Overall, these results indicated that NP could induce neurotoxicity on Caenorhabditis elegans through excessive induction of ROS and disturbance synthesis of serotonin. The conducted research opened up new avenues for more effective exploration of neurotoxicity caused by NP.

Biosafety assessment of water samples from Wanzhou watershed of Yangtze Three Gorges Reservior in the quiet season in Caenorhabditis elegans

We here employed a model animal of Caenorhabditis elegans to perform toxicity assessment of original surface water samples collected from Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in the quiet season in Wanzhou, Chongqing. Using some sublethal endpoints, including lifespan, body length, locomotion behavior, brood size, and intestinal reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, we found that the examined five original surface water samples could not cause toxicity on wild-type nematodes. Nevertheless, the surface water sample collected from backwater area induced the significant increase in expressions of genes (sod-2 and sod-3) encoding Mn-SODs in wild-type nematodes. Among the examined five original surface water samples, exposure to the original surface water sample collected from backwater area could further cause the toxicity in decreasing locomotion behavior and in inducing intestinal ROS production in sod-3 mutant nematodes. Moreover, the solid phase of surface water sample collected from backwater area might mainly contribute to the observed toxicity in sod-3 mutant nematodes. Our results are helpful for understanding the potential effects of surface water in the TGR region in the quiet season on environmental organisms.

Toxicity evaluation of Wanzhou watershed of Yangtze Three Gorges Reservior in the flood season in Caenorhabditis elegans

Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in the upper stream of Yangtze River in China is a reservoir with the largest and the longest yearly water-level drop. Considering the fact that most of safety assessments of water samples collected from TGR region were based on chemical analysis, we here employed Caenorhabditis elegans to perform in vivo safety assessment of original surface water samples collected from TGR region in the flood season in Wanzhou, Chongqing. Among the examined five original surface water samples, only exposure to original surface water sample collected from backwater area could induce the significant intestinal ROS production, enhance the intestinal permeability, and decrease the locomotion behavior. Additionally, exposure to original surface water sample collected from backwater area altered the expressions of sod-2, sod-5, clk-1, and mev-1. Moreover, mutation of sod-2 or sod-5 was susceptible to the potential toxicity of original surface water sample collected from backwater area on nematodes. Together, our results imply that exposure to surface water sample from the backwater area may at least cause the adverse effects on intestinal function and locomotion behavior in nematodes.

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds from the Source Water of the Huai River (Huainan City), China

The occurrence and environmental risk of eight endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), namely dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), nonyl phenol (NP), bisphenol A (BPA), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and estrone (E1), from four water sources (Pingshantou, Wanfenggang, Shisi, and Shiyi) of Huai River (Huainan section) were investigated in this study. Except for DMP only found in Pingshantou, all of the selected EDCs existed widely in the source water. DMP, DEP, BBP, DBP, NP, BPA, EE2, and E1 had the ranges of nd (cannot be detected)-130 ng/L, 25-310, 76-1351, 431-1299, 215-627, 23-107, nd-0.174, and 0.143-0.334 ng/L, respectively. Therefore, the studied water sources were associated with notable levels of EDCs, wherein the concentrations of BBP, DBP, and NP were much higher than the other five chemicals. The selected EDCs appeared to be higher in upstream than in downstream (p < 0.05) for each water source, suggesting that EDCs were subjected to a decreasing with water flow. Correlation analysis suggests that DEP-BP-DBP, NP-BPA, and EE2-E1 might have the same sources, respectively; and the source of NP, EE2, and E1 was different from that of BBP, BEP and BBP, and DEP, respectively. It was observed that both the TAS (total ambient severity) and RQ (risk quotient) were less than 1, indicating that EDCs in Huai River (Huainan section) posed little or no thread to the health of local inhabitants and ecological environmental.

Occurrence and risk assessment of estrogenic compounds in the East Lake, China

Forty two surface water samples were collected in May and June of 2013 in five lakelets of the East Lake, China. Four steroid hormones (17β-estradiol (βE2), estrone (E1), 17α-estradiol (αE2) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (αEE2)) were analyzed in these samples. Determination of four estrogenic compounds was performed on high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS). βE2 was detected with the highest detection frequency of 62% and its concentration range was from nd to 17.58ng/L. The mean total concentration of four compounds increased with the order: Houhu lake (L5) (8.91ng/L)<Niuchao lake (L1) (19.92ng/L)<Guozheng lake (L2) (20.03ng/L)<Tangling lake (L4) (22.65ng/L)<Guandu lake (L3) (35.68ng/L). Pollution sources of four compounds were mainly from municipal wastewater and water washed out from farm land fertilized with the waste of livestock or irrigated with water from livestock farm. The proportion of sample sites at high risk that compounds had effect on fish population were 58.3% in Guozheng (L2) lake, 100% in Guandu (L3) lake, and 62.5% in Tangling (L4), Niuchao (L1) and Houhu (L5) lake, respectively. The mean βE2 equivalent concentrations was at relatively high levels in L3 with 8.6ng/L, L1 with 6.1ng/L, L4 with 4.62ng/L, L2 with 4.58ng/L and L5 with 2.62ng/L, respectively. Meanwhile, sampling sites at high risk generally were surrounded with hospitals, hotels and residential buildings where had high population density.