Removal efficiencies and risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals at two wastewater treatment plants in South China

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the effluent from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important pollutant sources of the aquatic system. In this study, the removal efficiencies of eight typical EDCs at two domestic WWTPs in Dongguan City, China, are reported based on instrumental analysis and bioassay results. Bioactivities, including steroidogenesis-disrupting effects, estrogen receptor (ER)-binding activity, and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-binding activity were evaluated using the H295R, MVLN, and H4IIE cell bioassays, respectively. The potential environmental risks of these residual EDCs were also evaluated. The results of instrumental analysis showed that nonylphenol was the major chemical type present among the eight tested EDCs. Meanwhile, concentrations of estrogen compounds including estrone, 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol, 17α-ethinyl estradiol, and diethylstilbestrol were relatively low. The removal rates of all eight EDCs were relatively high. Although the chemical analysis indicated high removal efficiency, the bioassay results showed that steroidogenesis-disrupting effects as well as ER-binding and AhR-binding activities remained, with E2-equivalent values of effluent samples ranging from 0.16 to 0.9 ng·L^-1, and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-equivalent values ranging from 0.61 to 4.09 ng L^-1. Principal component analysis combined with regression analysis suggests that the chemicals analyzed in this study were partly responsible for these ER and AhR activities. Ecological risk assessment of the residual EDCs showed that estrone was the most hazardous chemical among the eight EDCs tested, with a risk quotient of 1.44-5.50. Overall, this study suggests that, despite high apparent removal efficiencies of typical EDCs, their bioactivities and potential ecological risks cannot be ignored.

Copper affects steroidogenesis and viability of human adrenocortical carcinoma (NCI-H295R) cell line in vitro

Copper is an environmental risk factor, which has various effects on reproductive endocrinology. In this study human adrenocortical carcinoma (NCI-H295R) cell line was used as an in vitro biological model to study the effect of copper sulfate (CuSO₄.5H₂O) on steroidogenesis and cytotoxicity. The cell cultures were exposed to different concentrations (3.90, 62.50, 250, 500, 1000 µM) of CuSO₄.5H₂O and compared to control group (medium without CuSO₄.5H₂O). Cell viability was measured by the metabolic activity assay. Quantification of sexual steroid production directly from the medium was performed by ELISA assay. Following 48 h culture of NCI-H295R cell line in the presence of CuSO₄.5H₂O a dose-dependent depletion of progesterone release was observed even at the lower concentrations of CuSO₄.5H₂O. The lowest levels of progesterone were detected in groups with the higher doses (≥ 250 µM) of CuSO₄.5H₂O, which elicited significant cytotoxic action. Testosterone production decreased significantly, and this decline was more prominent in comparison to that of progesterone. The lowest release of testosterone was recorded at 1000 µM of CuSO₄.5H₂O. The cytotoxic effect of CuSO₄.5H₂O was evident at all concentrations used in the study. The presented data suggest that copper has detrimental effects on sexual steroid hormones and consecutively on reproductive physiology.

The use of purified rat Leydig cells complements the H295R screen to detect chemical-induced alterations in testosterone production

Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals has been associated with compromised testosterone production leading to abnormal male reproductive development and altered spermatogenesis. In vitro high-throughput screening (HTS) assays are needed to evaluate risk to testosterone production, yet the main steroidogenesis assay currently utilized is a human adrenocortical carcinoma cell line, H295R, which does not synthesize gonadal steroids at the same level as the gonads, thus limiting assay sensitivity. Here, we propose a complementary assay using a highly purified rat Leydig cell assay to evaluate the potential for chemical-induced alterations in testosterone production by the testis. We evaluated a subset of chemicals that failed to decrease testosterone production in the HTS H295R assay. The chemicals examined fit into one of two categories based on changes in substrates upstream of testosterone in the adrenal steroidogenic pathway (17α-hydroxyprogesterone and 11-deoxycorticosterone) that we predicted should have elicited a decrease in testosterone production. We found that 85% of 20 test chemicals examined inhibited Leydig cell testosterone production in our assay. Importantly, we adopted a 96-well format to increase throughput and efficiency of the Leydig cell assay. We identified a selection criterion based on the AC50 values for 17α-hydroxyprogesterone and 11-deoxycorticosterone generated from the HTS H295R assay that will help prioritize chemicals for further testing in the Leydig cell screen. We hypothesize that the greater dynamic range of testosterone production and sensitivity of the Leydig cell assay permits the detection of small, yet significant, chemical-induced changes not detected by the HTS H295R assay.