Endocrine Disruption

in the Marine Environment

Mike Waldock Cefas Weymouth Laboratory

Barrack Road WeymouthDorset. UK DT48UB

mike.waldock@cefas.co.uk

Background to EDC

• First identified from eggs and sperm in the same tissue – intersex fish in UK rivers

Background to EDC

0 20 40 60 801

10

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

Before After

Measurements of Yolk protein in male fish blood

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 300

0.5

1

1.5

2

OH

OH

CCH3

CH

ETHYNYL OESTRADIOL

HO

CH3OH

OESTRADIOL

HO

CH3O

OESTRONE

Identification of causative substances

Testing the effects on fishVitellogenin in male trout exposed to oestrone

and 17ß oestradiol

C 6.25 12.5 25 50 100 25 25/2510

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

10000000

100000000

Initial

Final

**

oestrone (ng/l) E2 oes/E2

Testing the effects on fish

Testing the effects on fishVitellogenin in Male Trout Exposed to Octylphenol and 17 ß oestradiol

C MC 1 10 100 1 10 10010

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

10000000

100000000

Initial

Final

OP µg/l E2 ng/l

*

**

List of compoundsCompounds: Ethyl estradiol

(the pill) natural female hormones, industrial chemicals non-ionic surfactants, phthalates, bis phenol A, pesticides and biocides (metabolites DDE)

Effects: Estrogens – male to female. Androgens female- to male. Anti-androgens, anti-estrogens.

Could there be a problem in the open sea?

• Flounder work showing decreasing trends

• Sewage related decreasing problem

Tyne (Hebburn)

10

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

10000000

100000000

96 97 99 00 00 01 01

VT

G

TBT

• Antifouling on yachts 60’s- 80’s and on ships to date

TBT • Good example of

endocrine disruption before we called it ED.

TBT

IRISHSEA

BRISTOL CHANNEL

ENGLISH CHANNEL

NORTH SEA

Station 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 7

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

BU

NA

Station 60

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 56

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 50

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 49

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 88

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 89

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 90

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 87

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

Station 111

0

10

20

30

40

50

Stage

TBT levels are decreasing and effects reducing

Shetlands monitoring by FRS

ICES Workshop and Cod

• Cod placed in cages

At 500m from platforms – 5 fold increase in VTG in male cod

At 2000m – background levels

Produced water discharges

• Largest wastewater stream in offshore oil & gas production (~ 340 x 106 m3 yr-1).

• Complex composition:– small amounts of dispersed oil– dissolved organic compounds

(including h/c) – organic acids– phenols – production chemicals – inorganic compounds

ER agonists identified in PW

OH

OH

• Isomeric mixture of C1 to C5 and C9 alkyl substituted

phenols (APs).

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

Is it enough to affect cod?

• Cod work trends with age

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Ninia

n Nor

th

Andre

w

Alwyn

Nor

th

North

Cor

mor

ant

Mon

trose

Forti

es B

ravo

Mur

chiso

n

Mag

nus P

rodu

ctio

n

Pipe

r

Beryl A

Schi

ehal

lion

Salti

re

Brent

Del

taOSI

Hewet

t 48/

29A

Banff (R

amfo

rm)

ETAP

(CPF

)

Gryph

on

Sullo

m Voe

Claym

ore

Alba

North

ern

Alba

Dalm

eny

Brae

Alpha

Sou

th

North

ern

Prod

ucer

Nordi

c Apo

llo

Foin

aven

Proc

edur

al B

lank

Platform

In v

itro

ER

ag

on

ist

pote

ncy (

ng

E2

/l)

VTG in the plasma of male cod

Body length (cm)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

VT

G (

g/ml)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Shetland Box

Iceland

Irish Sea

North Sea

Scott and Thain CEFAS (unpublished data)

VT

G µ

g/m

l

Results to Present

• Widespread induction in large cod• Lower but significant induction in prey fish – dab• Next steps to identify the causes (TIE)

Conclusions

• Endocrine Disruption is present in the open sea at low levels.

• TBT related specifically to antifouling paint use on shipping and is being controlled

• Effects on fish are unlikely to be from sewage discharges of hormones because dilution would be too great

• Inputs from produced water seem to be only weakly estrogenic

• The relationship with the size of the fish suggests that the effect is due to compounds bioaccumulating up the food chain