Evaluation of androstenedione as an androgenic component of river water downstream of a pulp and paper mill effluent.

This study evaluates a recent report indicating that androstenedione (4-androsten-3, 17-dione) contributes to the androgenicity of water downstream of a pulp and paper mill discharge on the Fenholloway River (FL, USA). Extraction and concentration of Fenholloway water with C18 solid-phase extraction columns followed by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography resulted in clearly defined fractions with in vitro androgenic activity in CV-1 cells that had been transiently cotransfected with human androgen receptor and reporter gene constructs. However, we were unable to detect androstenedione in the active fractions by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry analyses of deionized and Fenholloway River water samples that had been spiked with androstenedione, then extracted and fractionated, revealed that the androgen was found only in inactive fractions. We conclude that, although androstenedione was present at easily detectable concentrations in the river water (> 100 ng/L), this compound is not associated with androgenic activity of water from the site.