Fate and Transport of Steroid Hormones in the Environment

As they interfere with the normal functioning of endocrine system, a continuous occurrence of steroid hormones in our water resources have a growing environmental and public health concerns. Few studies depict that these compounds have a strong tendency to adsorb to the soil organic matter or degrade rapidly both in water and soil. It was also assumed that they have little mobility and no persistence in the environment, and therefore the possibility of contaminating our water resources would have been due to accidental spill or leakage from poorly constructed animal waste lagoons. Nonetheless, these compounds are consistently detected in surface and ground waters, and the recorded concentrations in the environment significantly exceeded the reported low observable effect concentration 1 ng L-1 for 17beta-estradiol (E2). This study reviews the current knowledge of the occurrence, fate and transport of 17ß-estradiol and testosterone in the environment. Factors and processes that affect the mobility of these compounds in the environment are also highlighted. It appears that these hormones together with their metabolites may persist in soil or sediments for several months, and their mobility and behavior in the environment need to be well understood. Furthermore, despite the fact that the largest potential source of these compounds is Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), the current generally accepte