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Elizabeth J. Durhan,¹ Christy S. Lambright,² Elizabeth A. Makynen,¹ James Lazorchak,³ Phillip C. Hartig,² Vickie S. Wilson,² L. Earl Gray,² and Gerald T. Ankley¹

¹Mid-Continent Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota, USA; ²Reproductive Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; ³Ecological Exposure Research Division, National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Abstract
Little is known concerning the potential ecological effects of hormonally active substances associated with discharges from animal feeding operations. Trenbolone acetate is a synthetic anabolic steroid that is widely used in the United States to promote growth of beef cattle. Metabolites of trenbolone acetate include the stereoisomers 17- and 17β-trenbolone, both of which are stable in animal wastes and are relatively potent androgens in fish and mammals. Our purpose in this study was to evaluate the occurrence of 17- and 17β-trenbolone in a beef cattle feedlot discharge and in river water upstream and downstream from the discharge. In conjunction with that effort, we measured in vitro androgenic activity of the discharge using CV-1 cells that had been transiently cotransfected with human androgen receptor and reporter gene constructs. Samples were collected on nine different occasions during 2002 and 2003. Whole-water samples from the discharge caused a significant androgenic response in the CV-1 cells and contained detectable concentrations of 17- and 17β-trenbolone. Further work is needed to ascertain the degree to which synthetic androgens such as trenbolone contribute to androgenic activity of feedlot discharges. Key words: environmental androgen, feedlot runoff, trenbolone. Environ Health Perspect 114(suppl 1) :65-68 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8055 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 21 October 2005]

This article is part of the monograph "The Ecological Relevance of Chemically Induced Endocrine Disruption in Wildlife."

Address correspondence to E.J. Durhan, Mid-Continent Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory, U.S. EPA, 6201 Congdon Boulevard, Duluth, MN 55804 USA. Telephone: (218) 529-5167. Fax: (218) 529-5003. E-mail: durhan.elizabeth@epa.gov

We thank D. Hammermeister and I. Knoebl for manuscript review.

This work was funded wholly by the U.S. EPA, and is approved for publication. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 31 January 2005 ; accepted 23 June 2005.