<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-7">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Lucida Sans Unicode";
panose-1:2 11 6 2 3 5 4 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:normal;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:normal;
font-size:18.0pt;
font-family:"Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif";
color:#1C4C8D;
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:13.5pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
p.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:normal;
font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
color:#000099;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
font-family:"Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif";
color:#1C4C8D;
font-weight:bold;}
span.verticalbar1
{mso-style-name:vertical_bar1;
color:#666666;}
span.authorname1
{mso-style-name:author_name1;
color:#007AAD;}
span.enlargetext1
{mso-style-name:enlarge_text1;}
span.BalloonTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Balloon Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text";
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="2050" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><a href="http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/web/2012/04/Sand-Filter-Removes-Estrogen-Ease.html">http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/web/2012/04/Sand-Filter-Removes-Estrogen-Ease.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#B11C1C">April 20, 2012
</span></b><span class="verticalbar1"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">|</span></b></span><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#B11C1C"> Latest News<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h1 id="page_heading"><span style="font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557">Sand Filter Removes Estrogen With Ease<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Wastewater Pollution: Inexpensive wastewater treatment might work just as well as more advanced methods to remove polluting hormones<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">By
</span><span class="authorname1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://cen.acs.org/static/about/staff_landing.html" title="Staff C&EN | Chemical & Engineering News"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">Naomi
Lubick</span></b></a></span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999">Department:
<a href="http://cen.acs.org/departments/science.html" title="Science Department | Chemical & Engineering News">
<b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">Science & Technology</span></b></a> | Collection:
<a href="http://cen.acs.org/collections/lifesci.html" title=""><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">Life Sciences</span></b></a><br>
Keywords: <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=feminization">
<b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">feminization</span></b></a>, <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=estrogens">
<b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">estrogens</span></b></a>, <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=wastewater+treatment">
<b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">wastewater treatment</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=activated+carbon"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">activated carbon</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=sand+filters"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">sand filters</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=chlorine+dioxide"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">chlorine dioxide</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=oxidation"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">oxidation</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=microbial+communities">
<b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">microbial communities</span></b></a>,
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/iapps/wld/cen/results.html?line3=fish"><b><span style="color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">fish</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557"><a href="javascript:doMediaModal(%7b'modal_div':%20'media_modal_cen-20120420lnj1-roach-gr1',%20'type':%20'image',%20'mediaPath':%20'/content/dam/cen/90/web/20120420lnj1-roach.JPG',%20'width':%20'522.8395',%20'height':%20'700'%7d);"><span class="enlargetext1"><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;color:#007AAD;text-decoration:none">[+]Enlarge</span></b></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557;display:none"><img border="0" width="522" height="700" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.png@01CD2208.6E936A90"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557"><img border="0" width="250" height="334" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CD2208.6E936A90" alt="Photo of a hand holding a fish"></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557">Roach Test
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557">Estrogens can give male fish female gonads. Elizabeth Nicol of England’s Brunel University holds a roach, a fish that lived in wastewater
treated to remove estrogen in a recent experiment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#063557">Credit: Graham Harris<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Sand filtration might work as well to
<a href="http://cgi.cen.acs.org/cgi-bin/cen/trustedproxy.cgi?redirect=http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es204590d" title="remove estrogen from wastewater">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">remove estrogen from wastewater</span></a> as expensive and more technologically complex methods, according to research published in
<i>Environmental Science & Technology</i> (DOI: <a href="http://cgi.cen.acs.org/cgi-bin/cen/trustedproxy.cgi?redirect=http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es204590d" title="Additional Treatment of Waste Water Reduces Endocrine Disruption in Wild Fish – a Comparative Study of Tertiary and Advanced Treatments">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">10.1021/es204590d</span></a>). The findings might help protect wild fish from estrogens at low cost, researchers say.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Many scientists have found that estrogen steroids can feminize male fish at low levels, around nanograms per liter, sometimes causing the males to grow female gonads and become
infertile. Such levels are typical for wastewater effluent. Sewage treatment plants around the world use a variety of methods to remove estrogens. The methods include activated carbon--whose production takes a lot of energy and releases carbon dioxide--and
simpler sand filters paired with microbes that consume organic matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">After hearing that a local utility was planning to test methods’ ability to remove estrogens, researchers led by
<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/ife/staff-profiles/research-staff/dr-alice-baynes" title="Alice Baynes">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">Alice Baynes</span></a> of England’s <a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/" title="Brunel University">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">Brunel University</span></a> suggested adding biological assays on fish to the planned chemical tests. Together, they sampled four wastewater streams for estrone,
<i>17</i>â-<i>estradiol</i>, and <i>17</i>á-<i>ethinylestradiol</i>: one stream treated only with so-called activated sludge, a standard approach in most wastewater treatment plants; one treated with activated sludge followed by a sand filter containing microbes
that can break down compounds; and two streams that passed through activated sludge, a sand filter, and an additional cleanup material, either granular activated carbon or oxidation by chlorine dioxide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">The researchers’ analyzed weekly samples by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, and expressed amounts of the sum of the three estrogens in terms of the biological
activity of <i>17</i>á-<i>ethinylestradiol</i>, the most biologically active steroid in the mix. Chlorine dioxide removed the most estrogens, with its waste stream peaking at 11.0 ng
<i>17</i>á-<i>ethinylestradiol</i> equivalents per liter. Activated sludge alone performed least well: It let through a maximum of 21.8 ng/L of the bulk estrogen equivalent. The sand filter-sludge combination did nearly as well as the chlorine dioxide treatment,
letting through at most a bulk estrogen equivalent of 11.1 ng/L. When the researchers considered the average concentrations, sand filtration looked less promising: Its mean was 5.84 ng/L while chlorine dioxide’s was 1.95 ng/L.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">The researchers also employed their biological assay: They exposed a native species of fish called a roach (<i>Rutilus rutilus</i>) to each of the waste streams. After the fish
lived in the waste streams for six months, the researchers dissected them to search for signs of feminization—ovaries in male fish, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">The fish living in the water that had gone through sand filtration or activated carbon treatment showed no feminization at all. But some male fish living in the chlorine-dioxide
treated wastewater streams had intersex gonads, despite the fact that it contained the least estrogen of any stream. The team is now looking for compounds in this treated waste that might block male hormones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">The study’s main takeaway, Baynes says, is that “sand filtration can be a cost-effective method of removing estrogen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">The new work is important, says
<a href="http://www.entox.uq.edu.au/beate-escher" title="Beate Escher"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Beate Escher</span></a> of the
<a href="http://www.entox.uq.edu.au/" title="National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology</span></a> in Brisbane, Australia, because it shows that judgments about a treatment method’s efficacy must be made with the “whole chemical and biological story” in mind.
Pairing cheap methods to remove estrogen turned out to be better for fish than a more-expensive treatment, she notes, and “an apparently better treatment process, that also happens to be more expensive, might not be necessary.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Chemical & Engineering News
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">ISSN 0009-2347
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:11.25pt"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Copyright © 2012American Chemical Society
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></b><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red"><br>
</span></i></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Office of Water Permit and Compliance Assistance Programs</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red">4th National DEA Drug Collection 04/28/12, 10-2 pm</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099">
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red">Go to
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><a href="www.dea.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">www.dea.gov</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red"> for site locations</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#000099"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>