Screening for Genotoxicity and Oestrogenicity of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Vitro
Open Access
- 1 January 2012
- journal article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in Journal of Environmental Protection
- Vol. 03 (08), 902-914
- https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2012.328105
Abstract
A diverse range of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) was examined, using an in vitro test system, for critical events required for the onset of carcinogenesis in vivo. The initiation stage of carcinogenesis is a genotoxic process. 4-Octylphenol (alkylphenol), bisphenol A (plasticiser), coumestrol and genistein (phytoestrogens), 2,4-dichlorophe- noxyacetic acid and toxaphene (pesticides) and ethinylestradiol (synthetic hormone) were investigated for potential mutagencicity, DNA strand breakage, clastogenicity and DNA repair. Significant induction in the percentage of cells containing micronuclei was observed for all the EDCs. Toxaphene and coumestrol were mutagenic in the Ames assay. They also induced significant levels of unscheduled DNA synthesis and DNA strand breakage. Bisphenol A induced low level DNA strand breakage in HepG2 cells in the comet assay. The EDCs, with the exception of toxaphene, induced transcriptional activation in the yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay. They were potently oestrogenic in the mammalian based MVLN (transactivation) and E-SCREEN (proliferation) assays. This report on the transactivational, proliferative and genotoxic ability of the EDCs suggests that these chemicals may play a role in the etiology of male and female reproductive cancers.Keywords
This publication has 44 references indexed in Scilit:
- In Utero Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol (DES) or Bisphenol-A (BPA) Increases EZH2 Expression in the Mammary Gland: An Epigenetic Mechanism Linking Endocrine Disruptors to Breast CancerHormones and Cancer, 2010
- Genital anomalies in boys and the environmentBest Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2010
- Accelerated solvent-based extraction and enrichment of selected plasticisers and 4-nonylphenol, and extraction of tin from organotin sources in sediments, sludges and leachate soilsAnalytica Chimica Acta, 2009
- Analysis of Bio-Obtainable Endocrine Disrupting Metals in River Water and Sediment, Sewage Influent/Effluent, Sludge, Leachate, and Concentrated Leachate, in the Irish Midlands Shannon CatchmentInternational Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 2009
- The role of estrogen in the initiation of breast cancerThe Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2006
- Very high concentrations of DDE and toxaphene residues in crocodiles from the Ord River, Western Australia: an investigation into possible endocrine disruptionJournal of Environmental Monitoring, 2006
- Chromosome breakage syndromes and cancerAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics, 2002
- Identification of Estrogenic Chemicals in STW Effluent. 1. Chemical Fractionation and in Vitro Biological ScreeningEnvironmental Science & Technology, 1998
- Identification of Alkylphenols and Other Estrogenic Phenolic Compounds in Wastewater, Septage, and Groundwater on Cape Cod, MassachusettsEnvironmental Science & Technology, 1998
- A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cellsExperimental Cell Research, 1988