Analytical Methods for the Determination of Steroid Hormones in Environmental Systems

Abstract

[Resumen del libro] “A Closer Look at Hormones” provides the essential information necessary for students and scientists in the life and health sciences and chemistry of biologically active substances. The book adopts a readable, friendly style that helps introduce the reader to this fascinating and exciting world of hormones.

This book is devoted to highlight the recent progress on the extraction, analysis, physico-chemical properties and the use of hormones. Much attention is paid in several chapters to steroid hormones, which play an important role in human biochemistry. Information on phytohormones and hormones in mushrooms is also original. The book presents revolutionary results in clinical trials of hormones, comparative genomic analysis, and the use of these substances as a tool for biosynthesis. The logic of the whole book is subordinated to the scheme “presence in living organisms – identification and analysis – properties – application and safety” of hormones.

It also includes some of the vital pieces of work being conducted across the world on various topics related to the study of biologically active substances. Through it, we attempt to further enlighten the readers about the new concepts in this field. Altogether, presented in an organized, concise, and simple-to-use format, “A Closer Look at Hormones” allows quick access to the most frequently used data.

Steroid hormones are an important group of biologically active compounds which are involved in many physiological functions of organisms with genomic and non-genomic effects. For this reason, many therapeutic treatments are based on the use of natural and synthetic hormones to treat disorders of the homeostasis of steroid hormones. After these compounds are used in organic systems, they are excreted at trace concentrations and reach wastewaters, which are the main source of these types of compounds in the environment. When purified wastewaters are discharged into the environment, steroid hormones are considerably diluted and for this reason are only detected at trace concentrations. In recent decades, many scientific studies have revealed the potential toxicity of steroid hormones, even at ng.L-1 concentration levels. At trace concentrations, steroid hormones can produce changes in aquatic biota, including hermaphroditism, the development of unisexual populations and the malformation of sexual organs. Furthermore, steroid hormones not only interfere with the reproductive systems of exposed organisms, as has been seen in several studies which connect environmental concentrations of steroid hormones with alterations in growth, but can also produce changes in tissues and bones, and even behavioral changes in aquatic organisms. Some of these changes take time to manifest, very often only appearing in the following generations, and may be irremediable. Because of the trace level concentrations of steroid hormones in the aquatic environment and the complexity of the matrices that have to be analyzed, appropriate analytical procedures are required. Efficient extraction/preconcentration methodologies are of vital importance, as are selective and sensitive determination methods. In this chapter, a general review is presented of the most commonly used and most recent methodologies for the identification and quantification of steroid hormones in environmental matrices.