Ocorrência de hormônios nas águas superficiais da região hidrográfica do médio curso do rio Paraíba.

Abstract

The natural hormones 17β - estradiol and estrone and the synthetic hormone 17α - ethinylestradiol have been detected in surface water, mainly due to the current water and wastewater treatment processes being unable to remove them, leading them to be discharged into receiving water bodies. Monitoring the occurrence of these substances in water is currently very necessary because their presence can cause harm to human health and the environment (aquatic and terrestrial organisms). This work describes the development and validation of a method for the simultaneous determination of these hormones in water samples by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), from the simultaneous determination of these hormones in water samples and sewage from the river basin of the middle course of the river Paraíba. The chromatographic analyses were performed in an isocratic mode, being the mobile phase acetonitrile and water (50:50), using a C18 column, flow rate of 1mL/min, 10 μL-injection volume, wavelength of 200 nm and temperature of 40 °C. The method showed a good response on the hormone selectivity and linearity of calibration curves with coefficients of determination (r2) between 0.9943 and 0.9951. The estimated quantification limits were 90.45 μg/L for 17β - estradiol, 96.76 μg/L for the 17α ethinylestradiol and 96.19 μg/L for estrone, and the detection limits 60.27 μg/L, 65.12 μg/L and 64.16 μg/L, respectively. The precision and robustness presented relative standard deviations of less than 5 %. The proposed methodology was appropriate for the determination of estrogen hormones in water samples. Regarding the analysis on water collected and sewage was nor detected the presence of the hormone in any of the samples at the minimum concentrations of detection and quantification method developed.