Abstract
Sewage sludge (SS), a waste generated in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), presents a high agronomic potential due to the presence of organic matter, macronutrients, and micronutrients, encouraging its recycling in agriculture as a soil conditioner. However, the presence of toxic substances can preclude this practice. Among these substances, the endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) require special attention since they can cause serious impacts to the environment and associated organisms, even when present in low concentrations. This project aims to verify the biological activity of SS samples regarding the presence of emerging contaminants concerning their estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, androgenic, anti-androgenic and retinoic-like activities. For this, we will combine a fractionation procedure of samples, decreasing the matrix complexity, and in vitro reporter-gene assays performed with recombinant yeasts and human culture cells to detect the presence of EDCs in SS samples, before and after a detoxification treatment. As already predicted in the regular post-doctoral research project, the analyses proposed for this research internship abroad will complement the regular project, increasing the number of assessed effects induced by EDCs. Thus, the performance of the present project will contribute to a valuable monitoring approach to easily detect EDCs in sludges samples, allowing a safe disposal of this waste in agricultural soils.
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