Distribution and bioconcentration of endocrine disrupting chemicals in surface water and fish bile of the Pearl River Delta, South China.

The distribution and bioconcentration of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in water, algae, and wild carp bile of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), South China were investigated. 4-tert octylphenol (OP), 4-nonylphenol (NP), and bisphenol A (BPA) (unit, ng L(-1)) in water were in the ranges of 1-14, 117-865, and 4-377, those (ng g(-1) dry weight) in algae were in the ranges of 2-13, 53-282, and 16-94, and those (ng g(-1)) in carp bile were in the ranges of 14-39, 950-4648, 70-1020, respectively. Estrone (E1) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in water ranged from <LOQ to 1.58 ng L(-1) and from <LOQ to 3.43 ng L(-1), respectively. In bile and algae, E1 ranged from nd to 30 ng g(-1), but EE2 was not detected. The E2 activity equivalents (EEQs) ranged from 1.20 to 10.97 ng g(-1) in carp bile and from 0.07 to 8.06 ng L(-1) in water. The EEQs in carp bile were significantly related to those in water, illustrating that occurrence of EDCs in carp bile can reflect that in ambient water in the PRD region. The bioconcentration factors (BCF, L kg(-1)) of OP, NP, BPA, and E1 in algae were in the ranges of 482-7251, 131-740, 2846-12979, and undetectable, respectively, and those in carp bile were in the ranges of 1500-12960, 1648-11137, 3583-14178, and 13208-39623, respectively. The phenolic EDCs can be accumulated by wild carp bile and algae in the investigated aquatic ecosystems, which is also affected by the degree of the eutrophication. This study for the first time reported EDCs in carp bile and algae collected from the PRD, China.