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Wastewater‐contaminated groundwater as a source of endogenous hormones and pharmaceuticals to surface water ecosystems
Author(s) -
Standley Laurel J.,
Rudel Ruthann A.,
Swartz Christopher H.,
Attfield Kathleen R.,
Christian Jeff,
Erickson Mike,
Brody Julia G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/07-604.1
Subject(s) - wastewater , groundwater recharge , environmental science , groundwater , surface water , effluent , contamination , environmental chemistry , aquatic ecosystem , sewage , aquifer , environmental engineering , ecology , chemistry , biology , geology , geotechnical engineering
Increasing residential development in watershed recharge areas increases the likelihood of groundwater and surface water contamination by wastewater effluent, particularly where on‐site sewage treatment is employed. This effluent contains a range of compounds including those that have been demonstrated to mimic or interfere with the function of natural hormones in aquatic organisms and humans. To explore whether groundwater contaminated by discharge from on‐site septic systems affects water quality in surface water ecosystems, we measured steroidal hormones, pharmaceuticals, and other organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) in water collected from six aquifer‐fed ponds in areas of higher and lower residential density on Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA). We detected both a greater number and higher concentrations of OWCs in samples collected from ponds located in higher residential density areas. Most often detected were the steroidal hormones androstenedione, estrone, and progesterone and the pharmaceuticals carbamazepine, pentoxifylline, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim. Of particular concern, estrogenic hormones were present at concentrations approaching those that induce physiological responses in fish. While a number of papers have reported on surface water contamination by OWCs from wastewater treatment plants, our results show that surface water ecosystems in unconfined aquifer settings are susceptible to contamination by estrogenic and other biologically active OWCs through recharge from aquifers contaminated by residential septic systems.