Browsing by Author "Scrimshaw, Mark D."

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    Progesterone potentially degrades to potent androgens in surface waters
    (Elsevier, 2016-12-06) Ojoghoro, Jasper O.; Chaudhary, Abdul J.; Campo Moreno, Pablo; Sumpter, John P.; Scrimshaw, Mark D.
    Progesterone is a natural hormone, excreted in higher concentrations than estrogens, and has been detected in the aqueous environment. As with other compounds, it is transformed during wastewater treatment processes and in the environment. However, minor modifications to the structure may result in transformation products which still exhibit biological activity, so understanding what transformation products are formed is of importance. The current study was undertaken to identify putative transformation products resulting from spiking river water with progesterone in a laboratory-based degradation study and hence to follow the metabolic breakdown pathways. On the basis of literature reports and predictions from the EAWAG Biocatalysis/biodegradation database, target putative transformation products were initially monitored under unit resolution mass spectrometry. The identity of these transformation products was confirmed by using accurate-mass quadrupole time-of-flight. The study results highlight that transformation of progesterone can potentially create other classes of steroids, some of which may still be potent, and possess other types of biological activity.
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    A sensitive and robust method for the determination of alkylphenol polyethoxylates and their carboxylic acids and their transformation in a trickling filter wastewater treatment plant.
    (Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2008-09-01T00:00:00Z) Koh, Yoong K. K.; Chiu, Tze Y.; Boobis, Alan R.; Cartmell, Elise; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Scrimshaw, Mark D.; Lester, John N.
    This paper presents a method for the determination of alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEO) and alkylphenol ethoxycarboxylates (APEC) in the aqueous and particulate phase of wastewater samples. Quantification was achieved by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The sensitivity of the method is demonstrated by low detection limits, in the dissolved phase 1.2–9.6 ng l−1 for alkylphenol, AP1–3EO and APEC and 0.1–4.1 ng l−1 for longer chain alkylphenol polyethoxylates. The method detection limit for particulate phase samples ranged from 6 to 60 ng g−1 for AP, AP1–3EO and APEC; with the longer chain APEO being from 0.5 to 20 ng g−1. Matrix effects were noted in complex matrix rich samples. There was a distinct change in the distribution of alkylphenol ethoxylates during biological treatment of the wastewater, with the major biotransformation products observed being carboxylated derivatives at concentrations of up to 1768 ng l−1. Shorter chain APEO were present in higher proportions in the suspended solids, due to their higher affinity to particulate matter compared to the lon