GIS And Analytical Techniques for the Evaluation of the Occurrence, Transport And Fate Of Estrogenic Hormones in Waste and Surface Waters

This paper outlines the potential of the integration of GIS and laboratory techniques as a tool for the environmental management of areas exposed to water pollution phenomena. The presence in natural environment of compounds with estrogenic properties has become a major subject of world-wide growing concern, because these compounds may interfere with the reproduction of man, livestock and wild-living animals. As such, recently much research is directed towards the occurrence, effects and risks of these compounds. One of the groups of compounds under investigation are the natural estrogenic hormones, primarily synthetized in the female body and essential for female characteristics and reproduction, and closely related synthetic hormones. A problem in the routine analysis of hormones in surface and waste waters in the absence of a sufficiently sensitive analytical procedure. Thus the fist objective of this study was to develop an analytical procedure (using mass spectrometry and High Performance Liquid Chromatography) that enable analysis of four estrogenic hormones in concentration below lng/1 in surface and waste water.

The second objective of this study was to obtain a general idea about the occurrence of the hormones in water environment near Rome and the possible patterns of surface water contamination from hormones. GIS techniques offered good advantages. In particular the possible patterns of surface waters pollution from estrogenic compounds have been considered. Analytical data have been inserted in a specific GIS database and integrated with further information like lithology, geological structure, stratigraphy, geomorphology, hydrogeological features, DEM, waste water treatment plants location and characters. The processing of data layers was performed, using a dedicated software, through typical GIS operators like indexing, recoding, matrix analysis, proximity analysis. In particular the possible patterns of surface water pollution have been considered.

According to our results this methodology can be a reliable, sensible and easy to update support to competent Authorities in environmental management.

• INTRODUCTION

• ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE

• GIS

• RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

• REFERENCES