隨著醫藥的普及，人們使用量與日俱增，而醫藥的濫用與隨意棄置，使之成為環境中之新興污染物。某些藥物具有可能影響生物內分泌系統之作用，進而影響環境生態，然而這些藥物通常無法透過污水處理流程而完全去除。在污水處理流程中的消毒程序同時也可能與藥物反應而生成氯化衍生物，無論是母物質或氯化衍生物，對於環境之影響須審慎評估。
本研究選定南部地區四座民生污水處理廠與兩座醫院污水處理廠中不同處理單元進行樣本採集，利用報導基因酵母菌之生物試驗法與液相層析串聯式質譜儀，分析樣本中之內分泌干擾活性與六種環境中常見的個人保健用藥濃度，同時也鑑定藥物及其氯化衍生產物是否仍具有內分泌干擾活性。
藥物之內分泌干擾活性試驗中，非類固醇類止痛藥具有干擾甲狀腺激素受體、糖皮質激素受體、鹽皮質激素受體之能力，而咖啡因與乙醯氨酚則不具有測試的內分泌干擾活性。此外，待克菲那 (Diclofenac)之氯化衍生物可能具有抗甲狀腺激素與抗糖皮質激素活性，那普洛辛 (Naproxen)之氯化衍生物則可能具有抗糖皮質激素活性。針對污水廠樣本中內分泌干擾活性之檢測，抗甲狀腺激素活性僅在三座污水處理廠中測得，而抗糖皮質激素活性與抗鹽皮質激素活性則在六座污水處理廠中皆有測得，且醫院污水處理廠進流水中之抗糖皮質激素與抗鹽皮質激素活性皆高於民生污水處理廠。
以液相層析串聯式質譜儀檢測污水廠樣本中藥物濃度之結果顯示，藥物主要存在於水相中，進流水中乙醯氨酚 (Acetaminophen) (6.3~159.2 µg/L)與咖啡因 (Caffeine) (14.9~119.5 µg/L)具有相當高的濃度，而非類固醇類藥物各為可多普洛芬 (Ketoprofen) (20~305 ng/L)、待克菲那 (169~3818 ng/L)、異布洛芬 (Ibuprofen) (318~7040 ng/L)、那普洛辛 (195~6075 ng/L)。除了可多普洛芬，其餘藥物之最高濃度皆在醫院污水處理廠樣本中測得。比較藥物於污水廠中之去除率時，易生物降解之乙醯氨酚、咖啡因、異布洛芬、那普洛辛各為40-99%、36-99%、45-93%、-21-94%，而不易生物降解之待克菲那與可多普洛芬各為-179-50%、-674-100%。此外，將樣本中內分泌干擾物質之濃度轉換為內分泌干擾活性標準品當量濃度，並與生物試驗測得之活性比較，其結果顯示生物試驗所得之當量濃度遠高於由儀器分析濃度換算之活性，原因可能為環境樣本複雜而造成的協同作用或還有許多未被選定之內分泌干擾物質所致。
比較污水廠各單元間拮抗活性之變化可得知，污水廠中內分泌干擾活性大多能透過生物處理程序得到有效的去除，而由藥物在出流水中殘餘濃度，計算風險商數後發現那普洛辛、異布洛芬及待克菲那皆為中度風險及高風險，對此需要更高級的處理流程才能完善的去除，達到保護環境之功用。

The presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment has received a lot of attention in recent years. The waste streams from hospitals and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as major contributors to environmental contamination with human-derived medications. Chlorination is a common disinfection process in sewage treatment. During the chlorination process, chlorinated derivatives of drugs may be produced, and there is a lack of sufficient toxicological information for these chlorination by-products.
In this study, recombinant yeast bioassays and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to investigate the endocrine disrupting activities and concentrations of selected PPCPs, including naproxen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, caffeine in Taiwanese WWTPs. The endocrine disrupting activities of chlorinated derivatives were also examined. Our results showed that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are potential endocrine disrupting chemicals, which elicited thyroid receptor hormone antagonistic activities, glucocorticoid receptor antagonistic activities and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonistic activities. Also, WWTP water samples showed thyroid hormone receptor antagonistic activities, glucocorticoid receptor antagonistic activities and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonistic activities. The concentrations of PPCPs were often detected at ng/L to µg/L levels. In addition, chlorinated derivatives of naproxen and diclofenac showed endocrine disrupting activities.

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