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 17α-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 213 ng L−1 and from < MDL to 76 ng L−1 for cyproterone acetate. For the STP effluent samples, levonorgestrel was <MDL in all samples and the concentrations detected were in the range < MDL – 262 ng L−1 for cyproterone acetate, < MDL −11336 ng L−1 for norethindrone and < MDL – 1898 ng L−1 for 17α-ethinylestradiol.