Hormones are endocrine disrupting compounds, which have been shown to alter the sexual development of aquatic organisms. Animal manure applications to agricultural fields for nutrient management can be a source of environmental hormones. This dissertation investigates the occurrence of hormones in fields applied with various manures and their adjacent streams, as well as the effect of manure application technologies on the fate of hormones in soils, sediments, and runoff. A total of 11 hormone compounds were studied. All studied analytes were quantified using liquid chromatography and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry following various sample extraction and clean-up strategies.

The spatial and temporal distribution of manure-associated hormones in a manure surface applied agricultural field and adjacent stream was studied at time points up to 7.5 months after a routine manure application. Hormones were detected mainly in the top 0-5cm soils. Significantly higher levels of hormones were found in the drystack applied area of the field when compared to dairy manure slurry applied portion.

New technologies for the subsurface application of poultry litter show promise as a tool to reduce the transportation of environmental hormones in surface runoff. Once adequate sampling protocols were established; it was determined that subsurface injection of both dairy manure and poultry litter reduced the impact of manure surface runoff. Hormones also showed little vertical and lateral movement in the soil.

The transformation rates of 1,4-androstadiene-3,17-dione, 4-androstene-3,17-dione and estrone were studied comparing the effects of temperature, soil type, and application type. The calculated half-life of 1,4-androstadiene-3,17-dione in poultry litter surface-applied soils was 1.9 times higher than that in the poultry litter subsurface-injected soils, indicating a faster dissipation rate in the injection slits. Estrone persisted at detectable levels for the duration of the study in all treatments.

The continued use of best management practices and innovative manure management techniques for the reduction of nutrients, sediment and other contaminants has the potential to also reduce hormone transport to the natural environment. Monitoring many different types of hormones in all areas of an environmental system will continue to provide better information on the occurrence and fate of hormones sourced from manure amended soils.