Anthropogenic tracers, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and endocrine disruption in Minnesota lakes

2010 ◽  
Vol 409 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H. Writer ◽  
Larry B. Barber ◽  
Greg K. Brown ◽  
Howard E. Taylor ◽  
Richard L. Kiesling ◽  
...  
Endocrinology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 147 (6) ◽  
pp. s4-s10 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Crews ◽  
John A. McLachlan

Abstract Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment have been linked to human health and disease. This is particularly evident in compounds that mimic the effects of estrogens. Exposure to EDCs early in life can increase risk levels of compromised physical and mental health. Epigenetic mechanisms have been implicated in this process. Transgenerational consequences of EDC exposure is also discussed in both a proximate (mechanism) and ultimate (evolution) context as well as recent work suggesting how such transmission might become incorporated into the genome and subject to selection. We suggest a perspective for exploring and ultimately coming to understand diseases that may have environmental or endocrine origins.


2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinushan Nesan ◽  
Deborah M. Kurrasch

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are common in our environment and act on hormone systems and signaling pathways to alter physiological homeostasis. Gestational exposure can disrupt developmental programs, permanently altering tissues with impacts lasting into adulthood. The brain is a critical target for developmental endocrine disruption, resulting in altered neuroendocrine control of hormonal signaling, altered neurotransmitter control of nervous system function, and fundamental changes in behaviors such as learning, memory, and social interactions. Human cohort studies reveal correlations between maternal/fetal exposure to endocrine disruptors and incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we summarize the major literature findings of endocrine disruption of neurodevelopment and concomitant changes in behavior by four major endocrine disruptor classes:bisphenol A, polychlorinated biphenyls, organophosphates, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. We specifically review studies of gestational and/or lactational exposure to understand the effects of early life exposure to these compounds and summarize animal studies that help explain human correlative data.


2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 410-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Layton ◽  
Jason Belden

Engaging students in the process of science to increase learning and critical thinking has become a key emphasis in undergraduate education. Introducing environmental topics, such as the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, into undergraduate courses offers a new means to increase student engagement. Daphnia magna can serve as a model organism for endocrine disruption, and its ease of handling, rapid reproduction rate, and clearly defined endpoints make it useful in short-term, student research projects. The concept of endocrine disruption can be tested through a 21-day reproductive study of D. magna exposed to varying concentrations of the pesticide fenoxycarb. Students will observe an altered reproduction rate and increased production of males under conditions that would typically result only in the production of female offspring. This research system allows students to formulate hypotheses, set up experiments, analyze data, and present results, leading to a greater appreciation of and interest in science.


Endocrinology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 1731-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
June Keay ◽  
Joseph W. Thornton

As the primary mediators of estrogen signaling in vertebrates, estrogen receptors (ERs) play crucial roles in reproduction, development, and behavior. They are also the major mediators of endocrine disruption by xenobiotic pollutants that mimic or block estrogen action. ERs that are sensitive to estrogen and endocrine disrupters have long been thought to be restricted to vertebrates: although there is evidence for estrogen signaling in invertebrates, the only ERs studied to date, from mollusks and cephalochordates, have been insensitive to estrogen and therefore incapable of mediating estrogen signaling or disruption. To determine whether estrogen sensitivity is ancestral or a unique characteristic of vertebrate ERs, we isolated and characterized ERs from two annelids, Platynereis dumerilii and Capitella capitata, because annelids are the sister phylum to mollusks and have been shown to produce and respond to estrogens. Functional assays show that annelid ERs specifically activate transcription in response to low estrogen concentrations and bind estrogen with high affinity. Furthermore, numerous known endocrine-disrupting chemicals activate or antagonize the annelid ER. This is the first report of a hormone-activated invertebrate ER. Our results indicate that estrogen signaling via the ER is as ancient as the ancestral bilaterian animal and corroborate the estrogen sensitivity of the ancestral steroid receptor. They suggest that the taxonomic scope of endocrine disruption by xenoestrogens may be very broad and reveal how functional diversity evolved in a gene family central to animal endocrinology.


2002 ◽  
Vol 227 (9) ◽  
pp. 709-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Hendry ◽  
Daniel M. Sheehan ◽  
Shafiq A. Khan ◽  
Jeffrey V. May

At the biomedical, regulatory, and public level, considerable concern surrounds the concept that inappropriate exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, especially during the prenatal and/or neonatal period, may disrupt normal reproductive tract development and adult function. The intent of this review was to 1. Describe some unique advantages of the hamster for perinatal endocrine disruptor (ED) studies, 2. Summarize the morphological and molecular consequences of exposure to the established perinatal ED, diethylstilbestrol, in the female and male hamster, 3. Present some new, histomorphological insight into the process of neonatal diethylstilbestrol-induced disruption in the hamster uterus, and 4. Introduce recent efforts and future plans to evaluate the potency and mechanism of action of other putative EDs in the hamster experimental system. Taken together, the findings indicate that the hamster represents a unique and sensitive in vivo system to probe the phenomenon of endocrine disruption. The spectrum of candidate endpoints includes developmental toxicity, neoplasia, and more subtle endpoints of reproductive dysfunction.


Author(s):  
Geoffrey C. Kabat

In the early 1990s concern emerged that hormonal compounds present in small amounts in food and water – “environmental estrogens” -- could be having subtle effects on human health and wildlife. This concern led to the formulation of the “endocrine-disruption hypothesis,” which has received widespread attention. Over twenty years of research have shown that environmental exposures to these substances is generally minute and are dwarfed by hormonal (phytoestrogenic) compounds in food, as well as by hormone therapy used by some women. Nevertheless, the issue of “endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the environment” is currently under debate within the European Union and elsewhere.


2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Olea-Serrano ◽  
Mariana F. Fernández-Cabrera ◽  
Rosa Pulgar-Encinas ◽  
Fátima Olea-Serrano

This paper presents an analysis of the opinions of different groups from: scientists, international regulatory bodies, non-governmental organizations and industry; with an interest in the problem of identifying chemical substances with endocrine disrupting activity. There is also discussion of the consequences that exposure to endocrine disruptors may have for human health, considering concrete issues related to: the estimation of risk; the tests that must be used to detect endocrine disruption; the difficulties to establish an association between dose, time of exposure, individual susceptibility, and effect; and the attempts to create a census of endocrine disruptors. Finally, it is proposed that not all hormonal mimics should be included under the single generic denomination of endocrine disruptors.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 593-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Gore ◽  
V. A. Chappell ◽  
S. E. Fenton ◽  
J. A. Flaws ◽  
A. Nadal ◽  
...  

Abstract This Executive Summary to the Endocrine Society's second Scientific Statement on environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) provides a synthesis of the key points of the complete statement. The full Scientific Statement represents a comprehensive review of the literature on seven topics for which there is strong mechanistic, experimental, animal, and epidemiological evidence for endocrine disruption, namely: obesity and diabetes, female reproduction, male reproduction, hormone-sensitive cancers in females, prostate cancer, thyroid, and neurodevelopment and neuroendocrine systems. EDCs such as bisphenol A, phthalates, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diethyl ethers, and dioxins were emphasized because these chemicals had the greatest depth and breadth of available information. The Statement also included thorough coverage of studies of developmental exposures to EDCs, especially in the fetus and infant, because these are critical life stages during which perturbations of hormones can increase the probability of a disease or dysfunction later in life. A conclusion of the Statement is that publications over the past 5 years have led to a much fuller understanding of the endocrine principles by which EDCs act, including nonmonotonic dose-responses, low-dose effects, and developmental vulnerability. These findings will prove useful to researchers, physicians, and other healthcare providers in translating the science of endocrine disruption to improved public health.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Ottinger ◽  
Kevin Flynn ◽  
Sigmund J Degitz ◽  
Tim Verslycke ◽  
Hank Krueger ◽  
...  

The focus of this session was on the proposed USEPA Endocrine Disruption Screening Program (EDSP) Tier 2 testing protocols. Tier 2 tests have been developed to evaluate the potential impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) over the life cycle across organisms representing vertebrate and invertebrate classes. Key aspects of these Tier 2 testing protocols rely on selecting appropriate measurement end points to reveal differential sensitivity and adverse impacts across an organism’s life stages. To this end, certain Tier 2 tests utilize a multigenerational protocol, which detect both short- and long-term effects. However, multigenerational testing protocols can be time consuming and costly. As such, other testing protocols have also been considered, including partial life-cycle and extended one-generation tests. Regardless of the specifics of the multigenerational protocol, it is critical to identify key measurement end points that are responsive, reliable, and repeatable indicators of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals; these measures should also provide information to enable initial assessments of risk translated from individual to potential population level effects across a variety of living organisms. Presentations in Session three of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Focused Topic Meeting: Endocrine Disruption (February 4 – 6, 2014) focused on the current state of the science for EPA EDSP Tier 2 testing. Presentations in this session considered the strengths and weaknesses of the Tier 2 assays across several classes of organisms, and provided an industry perspective on Tier 2 testing. The interactive panel discussion provided an interesting perspective that balanced regulatory needs for reliable testing protocols that are highly repeatable and utilize consistent indices of exposure and adverse effect.


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