Nathan D. Jahns | USGS Science

USGS2012

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in Minnesota lakes - Water-quality and hydrological data from 2008 and 2010

Understanding the sources, fate, and effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in aquatic ecosystems is important for water-resource management. This study was conducted during 2008 and 2010 to establish a framework for assessing endocrine disrupting chemicals, and involved a statewide survey of their occurrence in 14 Minnesota lakes and a targeted study of different microhabitats on a single lake. The lakes ranged in size from about 0.1 to 100 square kilometers, varied in trophic status from oligotrophic to eutrophic, and spanned a range of land-uses from wetlands and forest to agricultural and urban use. Water and sediment samples were collected from the near-shore littoral environment and analyzed for endocrine disrupting chemicals, including trace elements, acidic organic compounds, neutral organic compounds, and steroidal hormones. In addition, polar organic compound integrative samplers were deployed for 21 days and analyzed for the same organic compounds. One lake was selected for a detailed microhabitat study of multiple near-shore environments. This report compiles the results from the field measurements and laboratory chemical analysis of water, sediment, and polar organic compound integrative sampler samples collected during 2008 and 2010. Most of the organic compounds measured were not detected in any of the water samples, although a few compounds were detected in several of the lakes.

Minnesota↗

USGS2008

Occurrence of endocrine active compounds and biological responses in the Mississippi River— Study design and data, June through August 2006

Concern that selected chemicals in the environment may act as endocrine active compounds in aquatic ecosystems is widespread; however, few studies have examined the occurrence of endocrine active compounds and identified biological markers of endocrine disruption such as intersex occurrence in fish longitudinally in a river system. This report presents environmental data collected and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and St. Cloud State University as part of an integrated biological and chemical study of endocrine disruption in fish in the Mississippi River. Data were collected from water, bed sediment, and fish at 43 sites along the river from the headwaters at Lake Itasca to 14 miles downstream from Brownsville, Minnesota during June through August 2006. Twenty-four individual compounds were detected in water samples, with cholesterol, atrazine, N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, metolachlor, and hexahydrohexamethylcyclopentabenzopyran detected most frequently (in at least 10 percent of the samples). The number of compounds detected in water per site ranged from 0 to 8. Forty individual compounds were detected in bed-sediment samples. The most commonly detected compounds (in at least 50 percent of the samples) were indole, beta-sitosterol, cholesterol, beta-stigmastanol, 3-methyl-1H-indole, p-cresol, pyrene, phenol, fluoranthene, 3-beta coprostanol, benzo[a]pyrene, acetophenone, and 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene. The total number of detections in bed sediment (at a site) ranged from 3 to 31. The compounds NP1EO, NP2EO, and 4-nonylphenol were detected in greater than 10 percent of the samples. Most (80 percent) female fish collected had measurable concentrations of vitellogenin. Vitellogenin also was detected in 62, 63, and 33 percent of male carp, smallmouth bass, and redhorse, respectively. The one male walleye sample plasma sample analyzed had a vitellogenin detection. Vitellogenin concentrations were lower in male fish (not detected to 10.80 micrograms per milliliter) than female fish (0.04 to 248,079 micrograms per milliliter). Gonadosomatic Index values ranged from 0.02 to 7.49 percent among all male fish and were greater for male carp than for the other three species. No intersex (oocytes present in testes tissue) was found in any male fish sampled.

Minnesota, Wisconsin↗

USGS2008

Alkylphenols, other endocrine-active chemicals, and fish responses in three streams in Minnesota — Study design and data, February-September 2007

This report presents the study design and environmental data for an integrated chemical and biological study of three streams (South Fork Crow River, Redwood River, and Grindstone River) that receive wastewater in Minnesota. The objective of the study was to identify distribution patterns of endocrine-active chemicals and other organic chemicals indicative of wastewater, and to identify fish responses in the same streams. Endocrine-active chemicals are a class of chemicals that interfere with the natural regulation of endocrine systems, and an understanding of their distribution in aquatic systems is important so that aquatic organism exposure can be evaluated. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, Minn.). The USGS collected and analyzed water and quality-assurance samples and measured streamflow during six sampling events in each of three streams. Water samples were collected upstream from and at two successive points downstream from wastewater-treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharge and from treated effluent from February through September 2007. Bed-sediment samples were collected during one sampling period at each of the stream locations. Water and bed-sediment samples were analyzed for endocrine-active chemicals including alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates, and nonylphenol ethoxycarboxlylates (NPECs). Water samples also were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, and organic carbon. In addition, as part of an intensive time-series investigation, the USGS staff collected daily water samples for 8 weeks from the Redwood River near Marshall, Minn., for analyses of total alkylphenols and atrazine. St. Cloud State University staff collected and analyzed fish to determine male fish responses at all water sampling sites and at an additional site near the discharge of wastewater-treatment plant effluent to these streams. Male fish responses included the presence and concentration of vitellogenin in plasma, gonadosomatic indices, and histological characterizations of liver and testes tissue. Hydrologic, chemical and biological characteristics were different among sites. The percentage of streamflow contributed by WWTP effluent (ranging from less than 1 to 79 percent) was greatest at the South Fork Crow River and least at the Grindstone River. WWTP effluent generally contributed the greatest percentage of streamflow during winter and late summer when streamflows were low. A wide variety of chemicals were detected. More chemicals were detected in WWTP effluent samples than in stream samples during most time periods. The most commonly detected chemicals in samples collected monthly and analyzed at the USGS National Research Program Laboratory were 2,6-di- tert -butyl-1,4-benzoquinone, 2,6-di- tert -butyl-4-methylphenol, 3- beta -coprostanol, 4-methylphenol, 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4- tert -octylphenol, bisphenol A, cholesterol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and triclosan. The chemicals 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxycarboxylate (NP1EC), 4-nonylphenoldiethoxycarboxylate (NP2EC), and 4-nonylphenoltriethoxycarboxylate (NP3EC) also were detected. Excluding nondetections, the sum of NP1EC through NP3EC concentrations ranged from 5.1 to 260 µg/L among all samples. NP was detected in upstream, effluent, and downstream samples in each stream during at least one time period. NP was detected in 49 percent of environmental samples. Excluding nondetections, concentrations of NP ranged from 100 to 880 nanograms per liter among all samples. NP was also detected in more than one-half of the bed-sediment samples. The most commonly detected wastewater indicator chemicals in samples analyzed by schedule 4433 at the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory were 3,4-dichlorophenyl isocyanate, acetyl-hexamethyl-tetrahydronaphthalene, benzophenone, cholesterol, hexahydrohexamethyl-cyclopenta-benzopyran, N,N-diethyl- meta -toluamide, and tri(dichloroisopropyl) phosphate. Male fish responses were the focus of the fish analyses, and 508 male fish were collected among all sampling sites. Vitellogenin was detected in 57 percent of the 415 male fish analyzed; concentrations ranged from an estimated value of 0.1 to 330 micrograms per milliliter (µg/mL) (average of 17.1 µg/mL). Intersex (the presence of oocytes in testes tissue) was observed in only one fathead minnow from an upstream site on the Grindstone River.

Minnesota↗