PARENT SESSION
PT2 - Endocrine Disruption
Tuesday, 19 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
(P556) Assessment of the Scope and Potential Environmental Impacts of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Poultry Litter.
Dzantor, E. Kudjo*,1, Yonkos, Lance2, Fisher, Daniel2, Staver, Kenneth2, Pollack, Sara1, Asfaw, Etayenesh1, Ottinger, Mary1, 1 University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA2 Wye Research and Education Center, Queenstown, MD, USA
ABSTRACT- Applications of unprocessed poultry litter to cropland as fertilizer is a routine practice in mid Atlantic states like Maryland, Virginia and Delaware with highly concentrated poultry industries. Studies have shown that poultry manures contain steroid hormones as well as xenobiotic chemicals that have been implicated in endocrine disruption in animal biota. In spite of recent heightened attention on endocrine disruptors (EDs) in the environment, little information exists about specific outputs of such chemicals from land application of poultry litter. In this study, analyses were performed on 20 litter samples from different geographical locations in Maryland and Virginia to determine potentials for introducing EDs in the environment through land applications of litter. The samples were extracted by shaking with a 1:1 mixture of hexane acetone; following extract preparations, they were analyzed by GC for xenobiotic contaminants, or after solvent exchange with PBS buffer, by radio immunoassay (RIA) for steroid hormones. GC-ECD analysis showed that 18 out of the 20 samples contained between trace levels to 2.0 mg/Kg of 4,4prime DDD, a DDT metabolite, and suspected ED; ten of those samples contained detectable levels of the parent DDT. Four samples contained dichloroaniline, a metabolite of the fungicide vinclozolin, and two samples contained endosulfan sulfate, a metabolite of the insecticide, endosulfan. Each sample contained several unidentified peaks that are being resolved, and GC-NPD analyses are continuing to determine presence of other suspected EDs. Analysis of three randomly selected samples by RIA showed detectable levels of the steroid hormone estradiol. Avian and fish bioassays are being used to assess the potential impact of relevant EDs from poultry litter on wild and domestic species. The experiments are part of an integrated study to assess potential ED introductions into the environment through land applications of manures, impacts of such intrusions on animal biota in the Chesapeake watershed, and strategies to remediate and/or mitigate such chemical intrusions
Key words: Steroid hormones, Estradiol, Vinclozolin, Endosulfan