Endocrine disrupting activities of surface water associated with a West Virginia oil and gas industry wastewater disposal site.

Currently, >95% of end disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater from unconventional oil and gas operations in the US occurs via injection wells. Key data gaps exist in understanding the potential impact of underground injection on surface water quality and environmental health. The goal of this study was to assess endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at a West Virginia injection well disposal site. Water samples were collected from a background site in the area and upstream, on, and downstream of the disposal facility. Samples were solid-phase extracted, and extracts assessed for agonist and antagonist hormonal activities for five hormone receptors in mammalian and yeast reporter gene assays. Compared to reference water extracts upstream and distal to the disposal well, samples collected adjacent and downstream exhibited considerably higher antagonist activity for the estrogen, androgen, progesterone, glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone receptors. In contrast, low levels of agonist activity were measured in upstream/distal sites, and were inhibited or absent at downstream sites with significant antagonism. Concurrent analyses by partner laboratories (published separately) describe the analytical and geochemical profiling of the water; elevated conductivity as well as high sodium, chloride, strontium, and barium concentrations indicate impacts due to handling of unconventional oil and gas wastewater. Notably, antagonist activities in downstream samples were at equivalent authentic standard concentrations known to disrupt reproduction and/or development in aquatic animals. Given the widespread use of injection wells for end-disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater, these data raise concerns for human and animal health nearby.

[1]  Lu-jun Chen,et al.  Decrease of antiandrogenic activity in gray water and domestic wastewater treated by the MBR process. , 2013, Environmental science. Processes & impacts.

[2]  M. Scholze,et al.  From single chemicals to mixtures--reproductive effects of levonorgestrel and ethinylestradiol on the fathead minnow. , 2015, Aquatic toxicology.

[3]  D. Tillitt,et al.  Estrogen and androgen receptor activities of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and surface and ground water in a drilling-dense region. , 2014, Endocrinology.

[4]  L. Naylor,et al.  Reporter gene technology: the future looks bright. , 1999, Biochemical pharmacology.

[5]  Michel W. F. Nielen,et al.  A new highly specific and robust yeast androgen bioassay for the detection of agonists and antagonists , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[6]  D. Tillitt,et al.  Characterization of Missouri surface waters near point sources of pollution reveals potential novel atmospheric route of exposure for bisphenol A and wastewater hormonal activity pattern. , 2015, The Science of the total environment.

[7]  Frederic D L Leusch,et al.  Comparison of five in vitro bioassays to measure estrogenic activity in environmental waters. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  T. Colborn,et al.  New Look at BTEX: Are Ambient Levels a Problem? , 2015, Environmental science & technology.

[9]  Laura N. Vandenberg,et al.  Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. , 2012, Endocrine reviews.

[10]  J. Lester,et al.  Binding of Waterborne Steroid Estrogens to Solid Phases in River and Estuarine Systems , 2000 .

[11]  L Earl Gray,et al.  Development and characterization of a cell line that stably expresses an estrogen-responsive luciferase reporter for the detection of estrogen receptor agonist and antagonists. , 2004, Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology.

[12]  G. Sayler,et al.  Screening of potentially hormonally active chemicals using bioluminescent yeast bioreporters. , 2009, Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology.

[13]  A. Orozco,et al.  3,5-di-iodothyronine stimulates tilapia growth through an alternate isoform of thyroid hormone receptor β1. , 2013, Journal of molecular endocrinology.

[14]  M. Snyder,et al.  Estradiol and endocrine disrupting compounds adversely affect development of sea urchin embryos at environmentally relevant concentrations. , 2005, Aquatic toxicology.

[15]  D. Rozell,et al.  Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale , 2012, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[16]  Jeanne Briskin,et al.  USEPA's study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on drinking water resources , 2014, Ground water.

[17]  S. Nagel,et al.  Developmental and reproductive effects of chemicals associated with unconventional oil and natural gas operations , 2014, Reviews on environmental health.

[18]  G. Ying,et al.  Screening of multiple hormonal activities in surface water and sediment from the Pearl River system, South China, using effect‐directed in vitro bioassays , 2011, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[19]  E. Lobenhofer,et al.  Short-chain fatty acids enhance nuclear receptor activity through mitogen-activated protein kinase activation and histone deacetylase inhibition. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[20]  J. Sumpter,et al.  Several environmental oestrogens are also anti-androgens. , 1998, The Journal of endocrinology.

[21]  Mihi Yang,et al.  Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Human Exposure and Health Risks , 2006, Journal of environmental science and health. Part C, Environmental carcinogenesis & ecotoxicology reviews.

[22]  M. Engle,et al.  Surface disposal of produced waters in western and southwestern Pennsylvania: potential for accumulation of alkali-earth elements in sediments , 2014 .

[23]  C. Vane,et al.  Partitioning, bioavailability and effects of oestrogens and xeno-oestrogens in the aquatic environment , 2005, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[24]  Julie M. Fagan,et al.  Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing , 2012 .

[25]  R. Jackson,et al.  Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[26]  L. Iwanowicz,et al.  Effects of watershed densities of animal feeding operations on nutrient concentrations and estrogenic activity in agricultural streams. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[27]  I. Cozzarelli,et al.  Organic and inorganic composition and microbiology of produced waters from Pennsylvania shale gas wells , 2015 .

[28]  C. Sonnenschein,et al.  Strengths and weaknesses of in vitro assays for estrogenic and androgenic activity. , 2006, Best practice & research. Clinical endocrinology & metabolism.

[29]  S. Kennedy,et al.  In Ovo effects of two organophosphate flame retardants--TCPP and TDCPP--on pipping success, development, mRNA expression, and thyroid hormone levels in chicken embryos. , 2013, Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology.

[30]  L. Giudice,et al.  Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. , 2009, Endocrine reviews.

[31]  Avner Vengosh,et al.  Enhanced formation of disinfection byproducts in shale gas wastewater-impacted drinking water supplies. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[32]  Emilio Benfenati,et al.  Androgenic and antiandrogenic activities in water and sediment samples from the river Lambro, Italy, detected by yeast androgen screen and chemical analyses. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[33]  M. Hardy,et al.  Oestrogenic and antiandrogenic chemicals in the environment: effects on male reproductive health , 2001, Annals of medicine.

[34]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Increased stray gas abundance in a subset of drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[35]  M. B. Cox,et al.  A four-hour yeast bioassay for the direct measure of estrogenic activity in wastewater without sample extraction, concentration, or sterilization. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[36]  N. Warner,et al.  Iodide, bromide, and ammonium in hydraulic fracturing and oil and gas wastewaters: environmental implications. , 2015, Environmental science & technology.

[37]  T. Colborn,et al.  Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective , 2011 .

[38]  J. Sumpter,et al.  Effects of low concentrations of the antiprogestin mifepristone (RU486) in adults and embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio): 2. Gene expression analysis and in vitro activity. , 2013, Aquatic toxicology.

[39]  K. Schroeder,et al.  Geochemical and isotopic evolution of water produced from Middle Devonian Marcellus shale gas wells, Appalachian basin, Pennsylvania , 2015 .

[40]  E. Wilson,et al.  Environmental antiandrogens: developmental effects, molecular mechanisms, and clinical implications , 1997, Journal of Molecular Medicine.

[41]  Reg Draft Investigation of Ground Water Contamination Near Pavillion, Wyoming , 2013 .

[42]  Z. Hildenbrand,et al.  An evaluation of water quality in private drinking water wells near natural gas extraction sites in the Barnett Shale formation. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[43]  D. Wake,et al.  Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[44]  M. Mclaughlin,et al.  Co‐treatment with the non‐steroidal anti‐androgen drug, flutamide and the natural estrogen, 17β‐estradiol does not lead to additive reproductive impairment in juvenile Murray rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis) , 2015, Journal of applied toxicology : JAT.

[45]  C. Lyttle,et al.  Human estrogen receptor regulation in a yeast model system and studies on receptor agonists and antagonists , 1992, The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

[46]  Mark Engle,et al.  Discharges of produced waters from oil and gas extraction via wastewater treatment plants are sources of disinfection by-products to receiving streams. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[47]  K. Linden,et al.  Characterization of hydraulic fracturing flowback water in Colorado: implications for water treatment. , 2015, The Science of the total environment.

[48]  Patrick Diel,et al.  Tissue-specific estrogenic response and molecular mechanisms. , 2002, Toxicology letters.

[49]  Hannah Jacobs Wiseman Untested Waters: The Rise of Hydraulic Fracturing in Oil and Gas Production and the Need to Revisit Regulation , 2008 .

[50]  Mira Petrovic,et al.  Analysis and environmental levels of endocrine-disrupting compounds in freshwater sediments , 2001 .

[51]  John A. Veil,et al.  Produced water volumes and management practices in the United States. , 2009 .

[52]  S. Ge,et al.  High-rate injection is associated with the increase in U.S. mid-continent seismicity , 2015, Science.

[53]  J. Sumpter,et al.  Vitellogenesis as a biomarker for estrogenic contamination of the aquatic environment. , 1995, Environmental health perspectives.

[54]  J. Sumpter,et al.  Endocrine disruption in wildlife: a critical review of the evidence. , 1998, Critical reviews in toxicology.

[55]  Martin W. Doyle,et al.  Generation, transport, and disposal of wastewater associated with Marcellus Shale gas development , 2013 .

[56]  M Scholze,et al.  Combined exposure to anti-androgens causes markedly increased frequencies of hypospadias in the rat. , 2008, International journal of andrology.

[57]  W. Ellsworth,et al.  Increasing seismicity in the U. S. midcontinent: Implications for earthquake hazard , 2015 .

[58]  Kristina A Thayer,et al.  Large effects from small exposures. I. Mechanisms for endocrine-disrupting chemicals with estrogenic activity. , 2003, Environmental health perspectives.

[59]  R. Zoeller,et al.  Endocrine-Disrupting Activity of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Adverse Health Outcomes After Prenatal Exposure in Male Mice. , 2015, Endocrinology.

[60]  Chung-Ho Lin,et al.  Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Oil and Natural Gas Operations: Potential Environmental Contamination and Recommendations to Assess Complex Environmental Mixtures , 2015, Environmental health perspectives.

[61]  Frank Spellman,et al.  Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing , 2012 .

[62]  B. Hammock,et al.  Triclocarban enhances testosterone action: a new type of endocrine disruptor? , 2008, Endocrinology.

[63]  J. Sumpter,et al.  Effects of low concentrations of the antiprogestin mifepristone (RU486) in adults and embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio): 1. Reproductive and early developmental effects. , 2013, Aquatic toxicology.

[64]  Niels Jørgensen,et al.  Shorter Anogenital Distance Predicts Poorer Semen Quality in Young Men in Rochester, New York , 2011, Environmental health perspectives.

[65]  Pim E. G. Leonards,et al.  Identification strategy for unknown pollutants using high-resolution mass spectrometry: Androgen-disrupting compounds identified through effect-directed analysis , 2011, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[66]  T J Woodruff,et al.  Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and public health protection: a statement of principles from The Endocrine Society. , 2012, Endocrinology.

[67]  G. Pojana,et al.  Natural and synthetic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in water, sediment and biota of a coastal lagoon. , 2007, Environment international.

[68]  Karen A Kidd,et al.  Collapse of a fish population after exposure to a synthetic estrogen , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[69]  R. Jackson,et al.  Impacts of shale gas wastewater disposal on water quality in western Pennsylvania. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[70]  Myles Brown,et al.  Molecular Determinants for the Tissue Specificity of SERMs , 2002, Science.

[71]  Jonathan D. Herman,et al.  A critical evaluation of unconventional gas recovery from the marcellus shale, northeastern United States , 2010 .