Occurrence of synthetic hormones in sewage effluents and Langat River and its tributaries, Malaysia

This study investigated for the first time the occurrence of selected synthetic hormones including 17-ethinylestradiol, levonorgestrel, norethindrone and cyproterone acetate in Malaysian tropical waters. Samples were collected from the effluents of five sewage treatment plants (STPs) and at seven stations along the Langat River in Selangor, Malaysia, and its main tributaries. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In Langat river samples, only levonorgestrel and cyproterone acetate were found at 50% and 3.3% frequency. The concentrations detected for levonorgestrel ranged from less than the method detection limit (<MDL) to 213ngL(-1) and from<MDL to 76ngL(-1) for cyproterone acetate. For the STP effluent samples, levonorgestrel was <MDL in all samples and the concentrations detected were in the range<MDL - 262ngL(-1) for cyproterone acetate,<MDL -11336ngL(-1) for norethindrone and<MDL - 1898ngL(-1) for 17-ethinylestradiol.