Effect of Ozonation on the Estrogenicity and Androgenicity of Oil Sands Process-Affected Water

There is increasing environmental concern about the volume of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) produced by the oil sands industry in Alberta, Canada. There is limited knowledge of the toxic effects of OSPW and one of the primary organic constituents, naphthenic acids (NAs), which are thought to be one of the toxic constituents of OSPW. OSPW and NAs can have endocrine disrupting potential. The NAs in OSPW are persistent, but ozonation can significantly reduce concentrations of NA, while increasing their biodegradability, and consequently reduce OSPW toxicity. However, it is of concern that OSPW ozonation might generate hydroxylated cycloaliphatics with endocrine disrupting potential. In this study, the estrogen receptor- (ER) and androgen receptor- (AR) mediated effects of OSPW and ozone-treated OSPW were investigated in vitro by use of T47D-kbluc (estrogen responsive) and MDA-kb2 (androgen responsive) cells. Ozonation neither attenuated nor intensified the estrogenicity of OSPW. The estrogenic responses to untreated OSPW and ozone treated OSPW were 2.58(±0.22)-fold and 2.48(±0.13)-fold greater than those of controls, respectively. Exposure to untreated OSPW produced significant antiandrogenicity in the presence of 0.01, 0.05, or 0.1 nM testosterone (T), while ozone-treated OSPW produced significant antiandrogenicity in the presence of 0.01 or 0.05 nM T. Exposure to untreated and ozone-treated OSPW also caused potentiation of androgen receptor-mediated effects of T. OSPW could cause estrogenic and antiandrogenic effects through receptor mediated pathways, and ozonation can partially mitigate the OSPW antiandrogenicity as well as androgen potentiating effect, without increasing estrogen potency.