Hasi Rani Saha¹, Moumita Tasnim², Mohammad Shahinur Karim³, Erjan Aziz Khan⁴, Md. Asad-uz-zaman⁵, Md. Nasim Sarkar⁶, Amatur Mahbub⁷, Bidhan Chandra Sarkar^8,

Environmental pollutants appearing in waste water, bottled mineral water, tap water, and bottled drinking water are potential, but yet poorly characterized, sources of human exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) globally. Here, we have investigated the level of environmental oestrogen in drinking water (filter/bottle and jar drinking water) in the most densely populated region in Dhaka city. We draw attention in drinking water to the potential risk of intensive modern agriculture and waste disposal systems on oestrogen release levels and their effects on human health. Influent and effluent bimonthly samples were taken at two distinct times throughout the previous and current years (2023 and 2024) from a major water treatment plant (WASA) in Dhaka city. In addition to tap water (direct supply from WASA) from households, different brands of bottled (mineral water), filter drinking water, and jar drinking water were also examined, as were equivalent samples from a household water purification facility situated in the same region. Samples were collected in sterile, one-litre containers, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the samples' oestrogenic potential. To address this knowledge gap, this study measured the environmental oestrogen level in tap drinking water (jar-container) and bottle drinking water (mineral). Quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to determine concentrations of 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2). The highest concentrations were measured in samples taken from the Jar drinking water at 20.0 ng/L, and the lowest were 3.02 ng/L, respectively. The concentrations of 17α-ethinyl estradiol (3.0–20.0 ng/L) varied somewhat between locations and sampling periods (p < 0.00); however, patterns were not consistent. The EE2 concentrations measured in the filter water and bottle water were all undefined values (mostly below 0.01 ng/L), which created difficulties in interpretation due to problems associated with trying to measure such low concentrations with confidence. In this study, we found the higher level of environmental oestrogen in Jar drinking water in this region.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, environmental estrogen level, drinking water, tap water, mineral water (bottle water), Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)