Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Possible Genesis of Ovarian Tumors

Background: Prolonged exposure to environmental toxicants like endocrine-disrupting chemicals has been linked to several ovarian pathologies. Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may start at any time of life from the fetal stage to adulthood resulting in various health complications The purpose of our study is to compare the concentration levels and association of benzopyrene, bisphenol A and genistein in patients with ovarian tumors and normal control group. We also sort to evaluate the predictive performance of benzopyrene, bisphenol A and genistein in patients with ovarian tumors. Methods: A case-control study was conducted for randomly selected participants involving 30 patients and 30 controls. 30 patients with radiologically diagnosed and histopathological confirmed ovarian tumors were included in the study between January 2022 and December 2022. Urine samples from each group were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Descriptive analysis for normally distributed continuous variables was done accordingly. Concentration levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals were assessed using the Mann-Whitney test. The association of endocrine-disrupting chemicals with pathological ovarian tumors was analyzed using binary logistic regression. Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of endocrine-disrupting chemicals was analyzed using the ROC curve. Results: Overall, patients were significantly (P = 0.000) older than the healthy controls. Mean years (SD) were 36.7 (7.90) and 28.8 years (4.89) for patients and normal women respectively. Endometriomas had the highest incidence of 50%. The level of benzopyrene and bisphenol A in patients was significantly higher than those in the control group, while the level of genistein was significantly higher in normal controls. Benzopyrene and bisphenol A were significantly associated with ovarian cysts, and the incidence of pathological ovarian cysts was positively correlated to these EDCs, with OR value 64.79 (P = 0.005) for benzopyrene and 9.609 (P = 0.001) for bisphenol A. Genistein was significantly negatively correlated with the incidence of pathological ovarian tumors, with OR value of 0.153 (P = 0.007). Diagnostic performance on the AUC for benzopyrene, bisphenol A and genistein&l.

Progress in study on endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs) in aquatic environment

Background on the generation of the problems of endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs) in aquatic environment, characteristics of EDPs, adverse effects and their effect mechanism of EDPs on human and wildlife, the transportation and degradation pathways of EDPs in water and analysis methods of EDPs in water were reviewed. The importance of EDPs in water should be attached to adverse effects on wildlife and human health. It was advised to estab- lish research programs on EDPs in aquatic environment es- pecially in water supply source.

Analysis of Environmental Endocrine Disrupting Activities in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents Using Recombinant Yeast Assays Incorporated with Exogenous Metabolic Activation System

Objective To measure the endocrine disrupting chemicals （EDCs） in wastewater and evaluate the EDCs removal efficiencies in the municipal wastewater treatment plants （WWTP）. Methods A battery of in vitro recombinant yeast bioassays incorporated with exogenous metabolic activation system （rat liver preparation, S9 mix） was conducted to assess the estrogen receptor （ER）, androgen receptor （AR）, progesterone receptor （PR）, and thyroid receptor （TR） ant/agonistic activities of effluents collected from Datansha WWTP. Results The indirect estrogenic, anti‐androgenic, anti‐progesteronic, and anti‐thyroidic activities were observed in the influent. The removal efficiencies of EDCs were above 74%, suggesting that the present wastewater treatment processes were good enough to remove most of these indirect endocrine disrupting chemicals. Conclusion The incorporation of exogenous metabolic capacity into the test system was valid for the study of indirect effects on ER, AR, PR, and TR.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in mixture and obesity,diabetes and related metabolic disorders

Obesity and associated metabolic disorders represent a major societal challenge in health and quality of life with large psychological consequences in addition to physical disabilities. They are also one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Although, different etiologic factors including excessive food intake and reduced physical activity have been well identified, they cannot explain the kinetics of epidemic evolution of obesity and diabetes with prevalence rates reaching pandemic proportions. Interestingly, convincing data have shown that environmental pollutants, specifically those endowed with endocrine disrupting activities, could contribute to the etiology of these multifactorial metabolic disorders. Within this review, we will recapitulate characteristics of endocrine disruption. We will demonstrate that metabolic disorders could originate from endocrine disruption with a particular focus on convincing data from the literature. Eventually, we will present how handling an original mouse model of chronic exposition to a mixture of pollutants allowed demonstrating that a mixture of pollutants each at doses beyond their active dose could induce substantial deleterious effects on several metabolic end-points. This proof-of-concept study, as well as other studies on mixtures of pollutants, stresses the needs for revisiting the current threshold model used in risk assessment which does not take into account potential effects of mixtures containing pollutants at environmental doses, e.g., the real life exposure. Certainly, more studies are necessary to better determine the nature of the chemicals to which humans are exposed and at which level, and their health impact. As well, research studies on substitute products are essential to identify harmless molecules.

Research Development of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals(EDCs) in Water in China

More and more importance has been attached to the problem of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) since 1960s. This article elaborates the recent research progress of EDCs in water and the trends in the near future in China.

A Toxicological Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Found in the BMW (Border, Midland and Western) Region of Ireland

A battery of tests was established to determine the oestrogenic, mutagenic and genotoxic potential of two categories of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), phthalates and alkylphenols. Diisononylphthalate (DINP), diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), dibutylphthalate (DBP), diisododecylphthalate (DIDP) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) were oestrogenic in the yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay and potently oestrogenic in the MVLN and E-SCREEN assays at environmentally relevant concentrations. DINP and 4-NP were mutagenic in the Ames assay and also induced significant levels of unscheduled DNA synthesis and DNA strand breakage. Significant induction in the percentage of cells containing micronuclei was observed after treatment with DINP, DEHP and 4-NP. In addition, sewage effluents from sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) region of Ireland were significantly oestrogenic in the YES assay. Moreover, analysis of levels of phthalates and alkylphenol identified in Irish rivers receiving treated effluent showed potent oestrogenicity in the YES assay. The proliferative and genotoxic ability of the phthalates and alkylphenol, and the oestrogenicity of the treated effluents reported here, is significant as these EDCs and EDCs within the effluent may play a role in the etiology of human abnormalities.

Screening for Genotoxicity and Oestrogenicity of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals <i>in Vitro</i>

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.

Apoptosis-inducing activity of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in cultured PC12 cells

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are known to exert estrogen-like effects that are similar to those made by naturally produced hormones or by inhibition of the receptors in the cell receiving the hormones. Recently, several reports have indicated that EDCs can affect the developing central nervous system. In our current study, we report that some EDCs induce apoptosis in cultured PC12 cells and can be classified into three groups. Bisphenol A (BPA), p-nonylphenol (NP) and tributyltin chloride (TBT) were found to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-associated apoptosis and activate the unfolded protein response (UPR) system, whereas benomyl (beno) induced non-ER stress-associated apoptosis. The half-maximal apoptosis-inducing concentrations (IC50) of these EDCs were 160 μM for BPA, 25.6 μM for NP, 640 nM for TBT and 48 μM for beno. Although these concentrations are higher than those found in the environment, some EDCs may have apoptotic effects on various cells in the body, including neurons, through their accumulation in the body over time or condensation through the food chain. On the other hand, benzopyrene, fenvalerate, styrene monomer and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate did not induce apoptosis in PC12 cells. We analyzed also whether apoptosis-inducing EDCs had an estrogen-like effect on cultured PC12 cells transfected with a luciferase reporter plasmid, the activity of which is dependent on estrogen receptor α. We found that BPA had an estrogen-like effect (EC50 = 5.9 μM) but that NP, TBT and beno did not in transfected PC12 cells. These results suggest that BPA may predomi-nantly exert estrogenic effects, but others may pre-dominantly have apoptosis-inducing effects on cells in the body exposed to a polluted environment.

Removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals from water through urethane functionalization of microfiltration membranes via electron beam irradiation

Polyethersulphone(PES)membranes modified with urethane functional groups were prepared through an interfacial reaction using electron beam irradiation.The removal of eight endocrine disrupting chemicals(EDCs)was studied using both pristine and functionalized PES membranes.The prepared membranes underwent characterization using several techniques,including attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared(ATR-FTIR)spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy,contact angle analysis,and measurements of pure water flux.Furthermore,dynamic adsorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the adsorption mechanism of the prepared membrane toward the eight EDCs.The urethane functionalized membranes were hydrophilic(52°contact angle)and maintained a high permeate flux(26000 L/h m^(2) bar)throughout the filtration process.Dynamic adsorption results demonstrated that the introduction of urethane functional groups on the membranes significantly enhanced the removal efficiency of 17β-estradiol,estriol,bisphenol A,estrone,ethinylestradiol,and equilin.The adsorption loading of 17β-estradiol on the functionalized PES membrane was 6.7±0.7 mg/m^(2),exhibiting a 5-fold increase compared to the unmodified PES membrane.The membranes were successfully regenerated and reused for three adsorption cycles without experiencing any loss of adsorption capacity.

Studies on the testicular toxicity of 2-bromopropane,an environmental endocrine disrupter

Aim: 2-bromopropane (2-BP) is known as an environmentalendocrine disrupter. Recently its reproductive and hematopoitic tox-icity has aroused the attention of the toxicologists. The presentstudy was designed to study its testicular toxicity in male rats.Methods; Forty male SD rats were divided into four groups of10 rats each. 2-BP was administered intraperitoneally at doses of1800 mg, 600 mg or 200 mg per kg body weight per day for 5days. The control rats were given a similar volume of the vehicle.The animals were sacrificed two days after the last dose. Results: With increasing doses, the seminiferous tubular damage wasgradually increased and the percentage of spermatogonia in the totalgerm cells gradually decreased ( P < 0. 05). The seminiferoustubular area of rats taking 1800 mg/kg was also reduced significant-ly . The body weight, testicular weight and relative testicular weightof rats taking the highest dose level were all significantly decreasedas compared with the controls. (Reprod Contracep 2001; 21; 157-60)

Study on Testicular Toxicity of 2-Bromopropane, an Environmental Endocrine Disrupter

2-Bromopropane (2-BP) is considered as a kind of environmental endocrine disrupters (EDs). Its reproductive and hematopoietic toxicity has aroused the attention of international toxicologists during the past five years.In the present study, we aimed to determine experimentally the testicular toxicity of 2-BP in male rats. Materials & Methods Forty SD male rats were divided into four groups of 10 rats each. The rats were intra-abdominally administered 2-BP once per day for 5 days continuously at the doses of 1800 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and normal saline, respectively. The rats were dissected one week after the first administration. Results The body weight, absolute testes weight and relative testes weight of the rats in 1 800 mg/kg dose group decreased significantly with comparison to those of the con- trol group,while the weight of accessory gonads showed no significant change. With the increase of dosage, the seminiferous tubules damage rate aggravated while the ratio of spermatogonia in total germ cells fell with P<0. 05. The seminiferous tubule area of rats in 1800 mg/kg group also reduced significantly. Under light microscopic examination, the spermatogonia of administered rats showed degeneration and chro- matin condensation. The nucleus of spermatocytes appeared hyperchromatic and py- knotic.Obvious testicular damage could be found in rats of high dose group, including large amount of spermatogonia necrosis or loss and reduced spermatocyte number. The electron microscopic findings were similar to those of the light microscopy, except that typical morphological change was found in the middle dose group: the structure of spermatogonia was destroyed, mitochondrion and endoplasmic reticulum scattered outside, nucleus disintegrated; some of the spermatocytes' membrane became nuclear, chromatin condensed and cogulation necrosis appeared; the nuclear membrane of round spermatids also showed slight damage. Conclusion The results indicated that testis was the target organ of 2-BP's reproduc- tive toxicity. The testicular toxicity of 2-BP started from damaging spermatogonia and its damage on spermatogonia was most obvious among all germ cells.

核受体活性筛选在内分泌干扰物检测中的应用

内分泌干扰物是备受国内外关注的一类污染物,其种类繁多、分布范围广,在各类介质如水体、土壤、大气、生物体乃至人体中均有检出,对生态环境和人类健康具有潜在威胁。核受体途径是内分泌干扰物发挥作用的重要机制之一,一些内分泌干扰物可通过核受体介导途径调节靶基因的转录,从而产生内分泌干扰活性。常见的核受体响应的生物筛选方法采用离体细胞或无细胞测试,具有操作简便、速度快的特点。这些方法可用于化学纯品的内分泌干扰活性筛查,也可应用于实际复杂介质中内分泌干扰物的识别。该文综述了国内外内分泌干扰物筛选的标准方法及现状、基于核受体响应的内分泌干扰活性筛选方法以及核受体活性筛选在不同复杂介质内分泌干扰物检测中的应用,并对基于核受体活性筛选的内分泌干扰物检测的未来研究重点以及我国内分泌干扰物筛选方法的建立进行了展望,以期为我国新污染物筛查提供数据和技术参考。

基于金属有机骨架多孔碳材料的分散固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定水中4种酚类内分泌干扰物

酚类内分泌干扰物是一种干扰内分泌系统的外源性物质,其进入生物体后会干扰细胞的正常功能,引起生殖发育毒性,因此亟需开发一种快速、灵敏的分析方法,用于环境水体中酚类内分泌干扰物的检测。本研究采用溶剂热法合成了一种由金属有机骨架衍生的多孔碳材料(UiO-66-C),并将其作为萃取吸附剂来富集水中的4种酚类内分泌干扰物(双酚A、4-叔辛基苯酚、4-壬基酚、壬基酚)。建立了一种分散固相萃取(DSPE)结合超高效液相色谱-串联质谱(UPLC-MS/MS)测定水中酚类内分泌干扰物的分析方法。通过扫描电子显微镜、X射线衍射及傅里叶变换红外光谱等测试方法对UiO-66-C进行表征,证明了该材料的成功制备。对DSPE条件进行优化,包括UiO-66-C用量、水样pH、吸附时间、洗脱液种类及体积、洗脱时间和离子强度。在最佳实验条件下,4种酚类内分泌干扰物在0.5~100μg/L范围内线性关系良好,方法检出限和定量限分别为0.01~0.13μg/L和0.03~0.42μg/L,日内和日间精密度分别为1.5%~10.6%和6.1%~13.2%。将该方法应用于自来水和地表水的检测,4种酚类内分泌干扰物的加标回收率为77.1%~116.6%;在自来水样品中未检测到4种酚类内分泌干扰物,而在地表水中检测到微量的4-壬基酚和壬基酚,检出水平分别为1.38μg/L和0.26μg/L。该方法具有良好的准确度和精密度,为环境水体中酚类内分泌干扰物的检测提供了一种快速、高效、灵敏的新途径。

内分泌干扰物对男性生殖功能损伤的研究进展

内分泌干扰物(EDCs)是一类外源性干扰人体内分泌激素作用的化合物,广泛存在于在环境中,且不易降解,人们无法避免地持续暴露于其中。许多研究表明在子宫内暴露于抗雄激素EDCs,特别是在胎儿睾丸发育的敏感时期,将会扰乱睾丸的发育并影响其功能,而成年男性暴露于各种环境EDCs也会造成生殖功能障碍,这与近年来男性生殖能力的下降有一定的关联。本文将针对几种常见EDCs对男性生殖系统的损伤及其相关机制进行总结概述。

大理白族自治州甸南镇部分小学生环境内分泌干扰物KAP调查分析

目的:探讨大理白族自治州甸南镇四至六年级小学生性成熟状况及环境内分泌干扰物(EDCs)相关知识、态度和行为。方法:采用分层随机抽样法,在大理白族自治州甸南镇选取2所小学四至六年级学生进行问卷调查。结果:不同年级、年龄学生及女生是否出现第二性征、月经初潮在EDCs相关知识态度得分上的差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05),四年级、六年级学生的EDCs相关知识态度均较五年级学生好;10岁学生的EDCs相关知识态度较11岁学生好;没有出现第二性征、月经初潮的女生EDCs相关知识态度比出现第二性征、月经初潮的女生好。女生出现月经初潮年龄在饮食行为习惯得分上的差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),12岁、13岁出现月经初潮的女生的饮食行为习惯均比11岁出现月经初潮的女生好。结论:11岁出现月经初潮的女生饮食行为习惯较差,五年级学生、11岁学生、出现第二性征和月经初潮的女生EDCs相关知识态度较差,接触EDCs较多。应制定有效的防治方案,培养学生良好的日常生活习惯,加强EDCs相关知识的教育。

类固醇雌激素在一体化MBBR中去除效果及受纳水体生态风险评价

为了评估农村污水处理系统对类固醇雌激素(SEs)的去除效能,以苏北某村级污水站为研究对象,对一体化MBBR进行改造,分析改造前、后污水站进出水SEs浓度及去除率,探究影响SEs去除率的因素,并对尾水受纳水体SEs生态风险进行评价。结果表明:当水力停留时间为20 h时,出水COD、NH_(3)-N、TN、TP平均质量浓度分别为12.98、1.92、12.18和0.22 mg/L,出水达到GB 18918—2002《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》一级A标准。基于此,检测进水雌酮(E1)、雌二醇(E2)和乙炔基雌二醇(EE2)的质量浓度分别在9.1~31.5、4.0~23.4、未检出~6.7 ng/L范围,SEs去除效果明显提高。延长水力停留时间,提高生化段污泥浓度,及夏季的高温环境均有利于SEs去除;尾水受纳水体中E1生态风险最高,需要重点关注。

Occurrence of estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals concern in sewage plant effluent

The purpose of this study was to give a worldwide overview of the concentrations of typical estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals （EDCs） in the effluent of sewage plants and then compare the concentra- tion distribution of the estrogenic EDCs in ten countries based on the survey data of the estrogenic EDCs research. The concentrations of three main categories （totally eight kinds） of estrogenic EDCs including steroidal estrogens （estrone （El）, estradiol （E2）, estriol （E3） and 17a- ethynylestradiol （EE2））, phenolic compounds （nonylphe- nol （NP） and bisphenol A （BPA）） and phthalate esters （dibutyl phthalate （DBP） and dibutyl phthalate （2- ethylhexyl） phthalate （DEHP）） in the effluents of sewage plants reported in major international journals over the past decade were collected. The statistics showed that the concentration distributions of eight kinds of EDCs were in the range of ng·L^-1 to μg·L^-1. The concentrations of steroidal estrogens mainly ranged within 50.00 ng. L-1, and the median concentrations of El, E2, E3 and EE2 were 11.00, 3.68, 4.90 and 1.00 ng·L^-1, respectively. Phenolic compounds and phthalate esters were found at pg. L-1 level （some individual values were at the high level of 40.00 μg·L^-1）. The median concentrations of BPA, NP, DBP and DEHP were 0.06, 0.55, 0.07 and 0.88 μg·L^-1, respectively. The concentrations of phenolic compounds and phthalate esters in the effluents were higher than that of steroids estrogens. The analysis of the concentration in various ten countries showed that steroids estrogens, phenolic compounds and phthalate esters in sewage plant effluents were detected with high concentration in Canada, Spain and China, respectively.

Back-propagation network improved by conjugate gradient based on genetic algorithm in QSAR study on endocrine disrupting chemicals

Since the complexity and structural diversity of man-made compounds are considered, quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs)-based fast screening approaches are urgently needed for the assessment of the potential risk of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The artificial neural net-works (ANN) are capable of recognizing highly nonlinear relationships, so it will have a bright applica-tion prospect in building high-quality QSAR models. As a popular supervised training algorithm in ANN, back-propagation (BP) converges slowly and immerses in vibration frequently. In this paper, a research strategy that BP neural network was improved by conjugate gradient (CG) algorithm with a variable selection method based on genetic algorithm was applied to investigate the QSAR of EDCs. This re-sulted in a robust and highly predictive ANN model with R2 of 0.845 for the training set, q2pred of 0.81 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.688 for the test set. The result shows that our method can provide a feasible and practical tool for the rapid screening of the estrogen activity of organic compounds.

Development of an analytical method to determine phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in sewage and sludge by GC/MS

An analytical method has been developed to determine bisphenol A and five degradation products of al-kylphenol ethoxylates in sewage and sludge. The parameters of accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) were optimized. C18 cartridge was used to clean up the sewage and the extract of sludge. The sensitivity of the mass detector was improved by adjusting the voltage of the lens manually. The instrumental detection limit was 3.2―17.8 pg. The method detection limits were 2.5―11.4 ng/L and 0.3―2.1 ng/g for sewage and sludge analysis respectively. The recovery and relative standard deviation for sewage analysis were 79.2%―111.4% and 6.9%―12.6%; for sludge analysis were 68.5%―114.0% and 8.9%―16.0%. Finally this method was applied to determin-ing the phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals in sewage and sludge from a sewage treatment plant in Beijing.

Roles of membrane and organic fouling layers on the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals in microfiltration

To understand the adsorption behavior of endocrine disrupting chemicals（EDCs） is important for enhancing the treatment performance and preventing potential secondary pollution caused by EDCs desorption in a microfiltration system. The dynamic adsorption of four representative EDCs, namely estriol（E3）, 17β-estradiol（E2）, 17α-ethynylestradiol（EE2）, and 4-nonylphenol（4-NP） in a microfiltration system was investigated using the Thomas＇ model.The product of the equilibrium constant and the total adsorption capacity of the membrane,Ka, for E3, E2, EE2, and 4-NP were 4.91, 9.78, 15.6, and 826, respectively, strongly correlating with the compound octanol–water partition coefficient（KOW）. Adsorption appeared to be enhanced when organic fouling formed on the surface of membrane, indicating the role of an additional adsorption column for EDCs acted by a fouling layer in microfiltration. Results of a comparison between the Ka values for clean membrane and fouled membrane illustrated that the significant contribution made by fouling layers may be attributed to the foulant layer＇s hydrophobicity（in the case of calcium humate layer） and thickness（in the case of calcium alginate layer）. This study provided a novel perspective to quantitatively analyze the dynamic adsorption behavior of trace pollutants in membrane process.