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5/24/2018 | 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM | NEVERTHELESS, THEY PERSISTED: INCREASING OCCURRENCE OF HORMONES IN STREAMS DUE TO HYPORHEIC EXCHANGE | 330 A

NEVERTHELESS, THEY PERSISTED: INCREASING OCCURRENCE OF HORMONES IN STREAMS DUE TO HYPORHEIC EXCHANGE

Even at low concentrations, the presence of steroidal hormones in aquatic ecosystems can lead to intersex fish and reduce the reproductive fitness of fish communities. While laboratory studies suggest that these hormones should not persist in the environment because of their relatively short half-lives, field studies across US streams have found elevated levels of hormones long after external inputs have ceased. Through an analysis of sub-daily hormone concentration data in agricultural streams, we found evidence that the sediments within the hyporheic zone play a key role in increasing the persistence of hormones. We then used a mechanistic stream-sediment model to show that the hyporheic zone accumulates hormones during high-flow periods and becomes a source by releasing mass back into the water during low-flow periods. With the sediments acting as an internal source in the stream during the summer growing season, both the median concentration and the number of non-zero concentration days significantly increases, thus increasing the risk of exposure for local biota. Our results point to the importance of including hyporheic interactions in risk assessment models, which is often omitted in current practice when characterizing hormone fate.

Hyporheic
Biogeochemistry
Water Quality

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Presenters/Authors

Frederick Cheng (), University of Waterloo, frederick.cheng@uwaterloo.ca;