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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #283573
Title: Patterns of estrogen occurrence in sewage treatment effluent (STPE) from a university campus

Author
item ASEM-HIABLIE, SENORPE - Pennsylvania State University
item HERSCHEL, ELLIOTT - Pennsylvania State University
item Church, Clinton
item WATSON, JOHN - Pennsylvania State University
item Williams, Clinton

Submitted to: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/20/2012
Publication Date: 8/1/2012
Citation: Asem-Hiablie, S., Herschel, E.A., Church, C., Watson, J.E., Williams, C.F. 2012. Patterns of estrogen occurrence in sewage treatment effluent (STPE) from a university campus. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE), July 29 - August 1, 2012, Dallas Texas. Paper No. 121338255.

Interpretive Summary: An interpretive summary is not required.

Technical Abstract: In order to evaluate the extent to which sewage treatment plant effluent (STPE) irrigation reduces or eliminates the entrance of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) into groundwater, studies on the fate and transport of selected EDCs in the Penn State spray-irrigation system are on-going. This study reports the variations in the occurrence of 17 beta-estradiol (E2), estrone (E1) and 17 alpha-ethynlestradiol (EE2) in the Penn State STPE during high (greater than 7000 cubic meters per day) and low (approximately 4000 cubic meters per day) flow and at different time periods during the day. Effluent samples were collected throughout the year at times when school was in session (high flow) and also when school was out of session (low flow). The samples collected were cleaned up and concentrated by solid phase extraction followed by detection and quantification using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The estrogens, E1, E2 and EE2 concentrations found were 33.2 ng L**-1 (6.1- 235.4); 48.13 (greater than BDL – 420.9 ng L**-1) and 0.36 (BDL – 3.28), respectively. It was observed that estrogen concentrations were generally higher during periods of high flow. Of the three estrogens, E1 was the most commonly detected while EE2 was the least observed. In agreement with previous studies, the estrogen concentrations were generally higher in the effluent samples during colder periods than in warmer months.