Survey the concentration of some estrogenic contaminants in estuaries of Iranian coasts of the Caspian Sea using the cluster and principle component analysis

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and Nonylphenol (NP) can enter the Caspian Sea by rivers from a variety of sources and they potentially pose a health risk to humans and aquatic organisms. Moreover, knowledge of their concentration is limited in the Caspian estuaries. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the concentration of BPA, NP and the physicochemical factors of Iranian rivers of the Caspian Sea. Water samples were collected from 49 estuaries along the coasts of Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan provinces in August and September 2015. Obtained results were compared among estuaries and assessed with principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) for clusters of NP and BPA concentration and physicochemical factors and rivers. The concentration of BPA and NP with the amount of 1.81 µg/l and 2.85 µg/l respectively was higher than standards and Talesh, Astara, Anzali, Azarood, Nashtarood, Talarood and Tajan have higher concentration of NP and BPA. The PCA revealed two components with eigenvalues >1, depicting 81.41% of the total variation of the data and also showed, EC, TDS, TSS, TS, phosphate and nitrate play important role in estuaries water quality in two major components. Outcome of CA classified similar estuaries and physicochemical parameters into 4 clusters. In conclusion, it was determined that pseudo estrogenic pollutant levels in water of the Iranian coasts of the Caspian sea have higher than those standard due to the effect of run-off from agricultural lands and industrial and municipal wastewater.