Occurrence of selected estrogens in mangrove sediments.

This paper presents results related to the occurrence and distribution of estrogens along the Brazilian coast. Three mangrove areas were chosen to evaluate the presence of estrogens in surface sediments of mangrove forests. The presence of estrogens was observed in all studied sites. 17-α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen, was the most common and has been found in higher concentration (0.45-129.78 ng/g) compared to 17-β-estradiol (E1) and estrone (E2) (both being natural estrogens). The concentrations of E1 and E2 ranged from 0.02 to 49.27 ng/g and 0.03 to 39.77 ng/g, respectively. Theoretically, under anaerobic conditions EE2 can be reduced to E1 even in environments such as sediments of mangrove forests, which are essentially anaerobic. Even if the concentrations of estrogens seem to be insignificant in some samples, the effects remain uncertain.