AWWA WQTC55125

Recent scientific evidence has alerted public health officials, environmental scientists and the drinking water industry that a diverse array of man-made and natural chemicals found in the environment can disrupt the endocrine systems of fish, wildlife, and possibly humans. Some of these chemicals are characterized as estrogenic, i.e., compounds that produce the same effects as naturally occurring estrogens. Estrogenic compounds have been identified using tests that indicate the compound binds to the estrogen receptor and elicits a response. Many of these compounds are found in aquatic systems, including alkylphenol polyethoxylates (surfactants), phthalates (plasticizers), natural estrogens (i.e., 17beta-estradiol and estrone) and the synthetic estrogen 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (found in the oral contraceptive pill), and some organochlorine pesticides and industrial chemicals such as dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is not known whether or to what degree estrogenic compounds are found in drinking water sources or in finished drinking water. In research funded by the American Water Works Research Foundation, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene is conducting a national survey of source and finished drinking waters to identify waters with estrogenic activity. We are using two biological assays: the E-Screen, a cell culture based assay in which a breast cancer cell line proliferates in response to estrogenic compounds; and, a bioassay that uses male fish directly exposed in water. The initial results of these studies are reported. Includes 9 references, figures.