In vitro assessment of thyroid and estrogenic endocrine disruptors in wastewater treatment plants, rivers and drinking water supplies in the greater Paris area (France)

The presence of estrogenomimetic compounds in the environment, and particularly in water resources, is well known. In contrast, little data is available about the disruption of the thyroid system, even though thyroid hormones are strongly involved in regulating metabolism, growth and development. The aim of this study was to carry out a parallel evaluation of the disruptions of thyroid and estrogenic hormone receptor transcriptional activities, induced by water samples from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in the river Seine, and from four drinking treatment plants located in the Paris area. Two in vitro bioassays were used for the evaluation of thyroid (PC-DR-LUC) and estrogenic (MELN) disruption. Our observations of thyroidal activity show that a disruption potential was only present in the WWTPs influents, whereas estrogenicity was systematically detected in both influents and effluents. The great majority of endocrine activity was removed during the biological process. In the river Seine, only estrogenicity was detected, and no activity was observed in drinking water supplies. Fractionation of the influents revealed that most of the thyroidal effect was associated with compounds with low polarity, and could be partly attributable to 4-nonylphenol.