PARENT SESSION
1D Bioassays for specific hazards (estrogenic effects, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, ...)
9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Tuesday, 08 May 2001

(T/EH074) Behaviour of potential endocrine disrupting compounds in sewage sludge, sediments and soil: lysimeter and run-off studies.

Dizer, Halim¹, Fischer, Brigitte¹, Spulveda, Isabel², Santana, Fernando², Senesi, Nicola³, Hansen, Peter¹, ^{1 2 3}

ABSTRACT- In Waste water treatment plants many xenoestrogens and EDCs interacts with the organic matter, the suspended solids and with the sewage sludge. The outlet of the sewage treatment plant in Berlin-Ruhleben contains 10 mg/l suspended solids respectively sewage sludge. The sewage plant is one of the main sewage plants in Berlin with an output of 240,000 m3 of treated effluent per day. Together with the treated effluent there is an emission of approximately 2.4 t of biological treated sewage sludge to the Berlin River System. Over the year the final amount will be approximately 880 t of biological treated sludge. This is only one third of the Berlin Sewage Plants in total. Preliminary results of the River Havel sediments shows clearly already endocrine effects. The Forest soils and some agricultural fields are commonly used for disposal of sewage sludge in the EU. The behaviour of estrogenic compounds in sewage sludge and after their disposal in soil is the mean subject of the presented study. The bio-available xenoestrogens are moderately soluble in water and are kept in soil through the binding with soluble humic acids or organic matter. The immobilisation of less hydrophobic EDCs like nonylphenol, diethylhexylpthalate and lower PCBs attached to the solid phase of humic matter was investigated. The humic acid fraction of the soil and the organic matter was moderately mobilised by percolation with rain water. In this study, the lysimeters filled with sandy soil from an unpolluted area was spiked with domestic sewage sludge and additionally loaded with estrogens and EDCs. During the lysimeter experiments and percolation with rainwater for 8 months, the estrogenic response of leachate samples were tested by three in vitro Indicatorassays i.e. induction of MCF7 cell proliferation, activation of estrogenic receptors (ELRA-system) and induction of vitellogenin synthesis in primary liver cell cultures of fish. The research work is supported by the projects PRENDISENSOR-ENV4-CT97-0473 and SANDRINE-ENV4-CT98-0801.

Key words: endocrine disrupting compounds, sewage sludge, lysimeter, soil