Meeting Abstract
The urban-water cycle modifies natural stream hydrology, and domestic and commercial activities increase the burden of steroidal and non-steroidal, natural and synthetic estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals, that can disrupt endocrine system function in aquatic organisms. This paper presents results from a series of integrated field and laboratory, chemical and biological investigations into the occurrence, fate, and effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the headwater reaches of major river systems in Colorado, the Chesapeake Bay, and Australia. Our long-term, continental-scale studies show that the occurrence and effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals are relatively low in river headwaters, and increase downstream with increasing anthropogenic activity. We have demonstrated that exposure to environmentally-relevant exposure to wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) contaminants has adverse implications for sexual selection in native fish by disrupting female-choice. We show that exposure to non-estrogenic antimicrobial WWTF contaminants disrupt the diversity and abundance of microbial communities in the fish gut with potential adverse implications for host fitness. We demonstrate significant recovery of reproductive health in wild and experimentally-exposed fish following a full-scale upgrade of WWTF treatment process. Through multi-generational studies we have identified transgenerational consequences of estrogen exposure on fertility that may impact the long-term recovery of exposed populations. Our studies demonstrate the impacts of human populations on the health of aquatic ecosystems can be mitigated by regulatory action and implementation of appropriate WWTF treatment technologies.
