Endocrine-disrupting compounds
What's in our water?
Two studies released today by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) confirm that a wide variety of unregulated chemicals are ending up in Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.
The chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are of concern because many have properties that can interfere with the functioning of hormones in animals and people.
Some chemicals can mimic the effects of hormones in animals and cause adverse physiologic effects, such as changes to the reproductive system or to the growth and development of an organism. These chemicals are called endocrine disrupting compounds, or EDCs. EDCs do not usually exhibit acute toxicity at the levels normally found in the environment, but instead can alter the normal functioning and growth of the exposed organism at very low concentrations.
In the last decade, national and statewide studies have revealed that many chemicals with known or suggested endocrine disrupting potential are found in the aquatic environment. These chemicals include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, chemicals associated with wastewater effluent, and a variety of industrial compounds. Apart from the disquieting realization that wastewater chemicals and drugs are detectable in much of our surface water, there is a growing concern that even at low concentrations, chemicals, or mixtures of them, may adversely affect fish, wildlife, ecosystems and possibly human health.
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Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Active Chemicals in Minnesota Lakes (tdr-g1-16) - Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Minnesota’s Rivers and Streams- 2010 (tdr-g1-17)
- Statewide Endocrine Disrupting Compound Monitoring Study, 2007 - 2008 (tdr-g1-08)
- Addendum (tdr-g1-08a)
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- Wastewater Treatment Plant Study, 2009-2011: June 1, 2010 Data Report and Summary (tdr-g1-10)
- Wastewater Treatment Plant Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Monitoring Study (lrp-ei-1sy11)
- Lake Habitat and Land Use (tdr-g1-08b)
Other resources
Fact sheet on endocrine disrupting compounds (leg-08sy1-02)- Report on Endocrine Disrupting Compounds to the Minnesota Legislature (2008)(lrp-ei-1syo8)
- Alkylphenols, Other Endocrine-Active Chemicals, and Fish Responses in Three Streams in Minnesota—Study Design and Data, February–September 2007
- Occurrence of Endocrine Active Compounds and Biological Responses in the Mississippi River
- Endocrine Active Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Other Chemicals of Concern in Surface Water, Wastewater-Treatment Plant Effluent, and Bed Sediment, and Biological Characteristics in Selected Streams, Minnesota—Design, Methods, and Data, 2009
