Okanagan Estrogens Project

Transcription

1 Okanagan Estrogens Project Tricia Brett Masters Candidate, UBC-Okanagan Dr. P. Jeff Curtis Associate Professor, UBC-Okanagan

2 Outline Background information Methods of testing for estrogens This Project and how it can be used Levels at Study Sites Mechanisms for removal Treatment Environmental Potential concerns

3 Quantify estrogens in Okanagan wastewaters Calculate environmental degradation of estrogens in receiving waters Best practices for wastewater discharge

4 Background Okanagan has among Canada s lowest per capita water supply Estrogens are Emerging Contaminants This Project Assess Okanagan specifics as they may influence estrogens discharged to the environment Effluent Variability: loading, matrix, design, seasonality

5 This Project Assess Okanagan specifics as they apply to how estrogens are discharged to the environment Measure estrogens in effluent and receiving waters Calculate degradation rates in receiving waters

6 Estrogens studied Estradiol -17β-estradiol (E2) the most potent naturally occurring estrogen Estrone (E1) a metabolite of E2 Estriol (E3) mainly produced during pregnancy Ethynylestradiol (EE2) synthetic, orally bioactive estrogen, the most commonly used medication. One of most potent estrogenic compounds (Thorpe et al, 2003) Reason Fair amount of research done on these compounds These three estrogens are generally considered to be the principle EDCs of concern in wastewater effluents (Gomes et al., 2003; Hanselman 2003; demes et al., 2005; Falconer et al., 2006).

7 Environmentally Relevant Concentrations concentration of 5ng L -1 caused total collapse of fish species (Kidd, 2007) - fish should not live in wastewater MoE guideline for 17 α-ethinylestradiol 30-d average concentration should not exceed 0.5 ng L -1 with no single value to exceed 0.75 ng L -1

8 Study Sites 3 large centers with 3 different methods of Wastewater Effluent Practices Very low per capita water supply and low precipitation Long residence time of Lakes and little recycling of water

9 Methods There are no standard methods developed for this and the method choice may depend on the purpose of the results Methods of testing for estrogens: All methods require clean up prior to analysis with some form of solid phase extraction. HPLC not very low detection limits HPLC-MS/MS better detection limits, more costly, matrix effects (most common method) GC-MSD not very low detection limits (5-25ng/L) and lots of prep work GC-high res MS low detection limits and less matrix problems but very costly Bio-assays (ie. ELISA test kits) per sample cost is high and detection limit may not be very low.

10 Methods Grab samples Monthly from treated wastewater effluent Monthly from receiving waters (roughly from April September) Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) clean up Needed to figure out how to treat the diverse sample matrices Then initially used High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Not fine enough detection limit Moved to now Liquid Chromatography (LC) and tandem Mass Spectrometry (MS) This is the most common method used for direct quantitation

11 VSTP effluent Sample Site Information m 3 /day Kalamalka Lake Residence time of about 35 years KSTP effluent m 3 /day Ok Lake Residence time of about 53 years PSTP effluent m 3 /day OKR discharge 962,000 m 3 /day Skaha Lake average about 1.2 years

12 Total estrogens in wastewater treatment effluents DL = 0.07 ng/l Site Total Estrogens (ng/l) Vernon Water Reclamation Centre 20.8±0.8 (SD 13.3) Kelowna Wastewater Treatment Facility 88.4 (± 59.8) Penticton Wastewater Treatment Plant 17.5 (±0.7)

13 Receiving water sample sites very different MacKay reservoir in Vernon Okanagan Lake in Kelowna Okanagan River in Penticton

14 Receiving water scavenging mechanisms Vernon Flo w in Flo w out Kelowna Penticton

15 Total EDCs in receiving waters DL = 0.07 ng/l Site MacKay Reservoir Vernon Tailwaters Okanagan Lake Okanagan River Total EDC (ng/l) 3.3 *huge variability could be due to seasonality. Winter numbers appear higher? <ND <ND 1.5 *huge variability maybe due to dilution and seasonality

16 MacKay Reservoir - Vernon Effluent Approximate decay rate calculated from concentration and loading Decay rate = 0.03day day -1 Assuming ~435 days of residence time in the reservoir Half life = days

17 Estrogens in Tailwater - Vernon Effluent (irrigation returns) Kalamalka/Okanagan Lakes Non-detectable

18 Okanagan Lake - Kelowna Effluent Hayco Effluent hydrodynamics in Okanagan Lake Extensive sampling did not detect plume Levels throughout the lake were undetectable

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20 Okanagan Lake Theoretical concentration using MacKay decay rate and dilution from Hay & Co. Study: 5, 25 d plume is mostly diluted (insufficient time) ng/l total Estrogens

21 Okanagan River - Penticton Effluent Travel time avg. 5h (3-9 h) No measured degradation. Values are close to dilution -- some suggestion that bound estrogens might be released on dilution or in transit

22 What is in the drinking water? Fate simulation and risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals in a reservoir receiving recycled wastewaterthe highest risk quotient among the three estrogens was found for EE2 with less than , implying negligible risks. Most sourced from upland sources with no input from wastewater No evidence for detectable levels in source

23 Ecosystem concern The concern is not a drinking water concern Fish etc. live in the water all of the time

24 What is next? Seasonality -- effluent vs. degradation/dilution Kelowna Effluent Plume Mackay as analog for lakes?

25 Thanks to our sponsors and supporters Contact Info: Tricia Brett tricia@metatechcanada.com Jeff Curtis Jeff.Curtis@ubc.ca

26 What is in the drinking water Most sourced from upland sources with no input from wastewater No evidence for detectable levels in source water lake (Okanagan) Shares predictions with generalized effluent study (Hayco) -- minimal risk.

27 Cost Estimates Depends on Matrix being analyzed Treated wastewater effluent vs effluent receiving waters Depends on Volume being analyzed Treated wastewater effluent vs effluent receiving waters 200mL vs 2000 ml Depends on the detection limit required Overall the costs average about $850 for 8 samples Samples are processed in batches of 4 as a minimum