Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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In this study DBP-degradation strain CQ0301 was isolated from rubbish landfill soil. According to the biophysical, biochemical characteristics and analysis of 16S rRNA, the strain was identified as Rhodococcus ruber. Three new protein bands could be fractioned after DBP-inducing, which were suspected to participate the process of DBP-degrading. Catechol was suspected to be an intermediate product of DBP and cleaving the benzene ring was catalyzed by catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, because a highly activity of catechol 1,2-dioxygenase could be detected after DBP-inducing. The results of this study also showed the optimal pH value, optimal temperature which influenced the degradation rate in soil: pH 7.0-8.0, 30-35^oC. Kinetics of degradation reaction had been performed at different initial concentration and different time. Analyzed with SPSS10.0 software, the DBP degradation can be described as the same exponential model when the initial DBP concentration was lower than 50mg/kg. The kinetics equation was lnC=-0.1332t+A, with the degradation half-life of DBP in soil (5.20d). Inoculating CQ0301 could relieve DBP content in plant. We also found that adding nutrient materials into soil was useful for decreasing the DBP content in plant. In summary, we isolated a bacterium capable of degrading DBP and decreasing DBP content in plant. We also explored the mechanism of biodegradation and characterized the environmental factors influencing the degradation process in contaminated soil. Based on this work, we hope that these findings can provide some information for applying of bioremediation of DBP contaminated soil. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Organic pollutants exhibiting endocrine disrupting activity (Endocrine Disruptors-EDs) are prevalent over a wide range in the aquatic ecosystems; most EDs are resistant to environmental degradation and are considered ubiquitous contaminants. The actual potency of EDs is low compared to that of natural hormones, but environmental concentrations may still be sufficiently high to produce detrimental biological effects. Most information on the biological effects and mechanisms of action of EDs has been focused on vertebrates. Here we summarize recent progress in studies on selected aspects of endocrine disruption in marine organisms that are still poorly understood and that certainly deserve further research in the near future. This review, divided in four sections, focuses mainly on invertebrates (effects of EDs and mechanisms of action) and presents data on top predators (large pelagic fish and cetaceans), a group of vertebrates that are particularly at risk due to their position in the food chain. The first section deals with basic pathways of steroid biosynthesis and metabolism as a target for endocrine disruption in invertebrates. In the second section, data on the effects and alternative mechanisms of action of estrogenic compounds in mussel immunocytes are presented, addressing to the importance of investigating full range responses to estrogenic chemicals in ecologically relevant invertebrate species. In the third section we review the potential use of vitellogenin (Vtg)-like proteins as a biomarker of endocrine disruption in marine bivalve molluscs, used worldwide as sentinels in marine biomonitoring programmes. Finally, we summarize the results of a recent survey on ED accumulation and effects on marine fish and mammals, utilizing both classical biomarkers of endocrine disruption in vertebrates and non-lethal techniques, such as non-destructive biomarkers, indicating the toxicological risk for top predator species in the Mediterranean. Overall, the reviewed data underline the potential to identify specific types of responses to specific groups of chemicals such as EDs in order to develop suitable biomarkers that could be useful as diagnostic tools for endocrine disruption in marine invertebrates and vertebrates. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Environment International, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Analysis of serum, whole blood and liver tissue samples from Kafue lechwe in the Lochinvar National Park of Zambia for suspected endocrine disrupting compounds revealed high concentrations for some of the compounds. 45 samples of serum, whole blood and liver tissue were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction followed by an analysis using Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detection (GC-ECD). The following endocrine disruptors were analyzed: deltamethrin, aldrin, endosulfan, dieldrin, pp-DDD, heptachlor, d-t-allethrin, pp-DDE, endrin and pp-DDT. For all the samples, dieldrin showed the highest concentration ranging from 1.7 to 44.4 @mg/ml in serum and whole blood sample extracts and 0.10-5.1 @mg/g wet weight in liver sample extracts. The most frequently detected was deltamethrin in 62% of the samples. Percent recoveries in spiked laboratory blanks ranged between 60% and 100% while calculated detection limits ranged from 0.004 to 0.21 @mg/ml for all the endocrine disruptors evaluated. Where endocrine disruptors were detected, the concentrations of most of them far exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) and the extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) set by the Codex Alimentarius of the United Nations (UN), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from OnEarth, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 557 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Let's face facts: the first step toward a solution is recognizing there's a problem.(chemical pollutants, endocrine disruptors)(Editorial)
Author: Douglas S. Barasch
Publication: OnEarth (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27Issue: 4Page: 3(1)

Article Type: Editorial

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been globally detected in impacted natural waters. The detection of trace quantities of EDCs and PPCPs in the environment is of great concern since some of these compounds have known physiological responses at low concentrations. EDCs can have a wide range of polarities, acidic and basic moieties, and exist in trace quantities, which often requires numerous complex extractions, large sample collection volumes, and multiple instrumental analyses. A comprehensive method has been developed allowing for the analysis of 58 potential EDCs in various water matrices using a single solid-phase extraction (SPE) of a 1L sample with subsequent analyses using both gas chromatography and liquid chromatography, each coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS). Instrument detection limits ranged between 0.12-7.5pg with corresponding method reporting limits of 1-10ngl^-^1 in water. Recoveries for most compounds were between 50% and 112% with good reproducibility (RSD 6-22%). ... Read more

Book Description
The field of endocrine disruption or endocrine active compounds (EACs), which is just emerging and still controversial, is comprehensively covered by leading experts in Volume 3, Subvolumes L (Part I) and M (the present volume, Part II). The major classes of endocrine active chemicals are discussed, as well as methods for their detection and their association with health disturbances in humans and wildlife. The etiology of several of the human diseases associated with endocrine disruptors, e.g. breast and prostate cancer, decreased fertility and malformations, is still poorly understood, and the current state of knowledge is presented. Since hormonally active agents appear to have the potential of both adverse and beneficial effects, the evidence of health benefits associated with endocrine active compounds in humans is also presented. Basic chapters on the mode of action of EACs and on the etiology of the associated diseases facilitate the understanding of this complex subject for non-medical readers. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Canadian Chemical News, published by Chemical Institute of Canada on April 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1735 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Endocrine disruptors: beyond the headlines.
Author: J.E. Heinze
Publication: Canadian Chemical News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1997
Publisher: Chemical Institute of Canada
Volume: v49Issue: n4Page: p17(2)

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Humic substances (HS) have a critical influence on the sorption of organic contaminants by soils and sediments. This paper describes investigations into the sorption behavior of three representative endocrine disruptors, bisphenol A (BPA), 17@b-estradiol (E2), and 17@a-ethynylestradiol (EE2), onto sediments and HS extracted sediments using a batch technique. The organic carbon-normalized partition coefficients (K"o"c) for the extracted HS (K"o"c(hs)) were calculated, and the fluorescence spectra of the HS extraced from different sediment samples were gained using excitation/emission matrix (EEM). Particular attention was paid to the correlations between the fluorescence characteristics of HS and the logK"o"c(hs) of selected endocrine disruptors. The results show that the logK"o"c(hs) values range from 3.14 to 4.09 for BPA, from 3.47 to 4.33 for E2, and from 3.65 to 4.32 for EE2. Two characteristic excitation-emission peaks were observed for HS samples extracted from sediments. They are located at Ex/Em=250-260nm/400-450nm (peak @a') and Ex/Em=310-330nm/390-400nm (peak @a) respectively. The @a' and @a peak relative intensities (I"@a"^"'/I"@a) vary from 0.46 to 1.64 for different extracted HS samples. The similarity between fulvic acids (FA) Ex/Em pairs and those observed for HS indicates that FA is the predominant fraction of HS extracted from sediments. Moreover, the logK"o"c(hs) values of BPA, E2, and EE2 have a negative linear correlation to I"@a"'/I"@a values. Peak @a is often attributed to relatively stable and high molecular weight aromatic fulvic-like matter. Therefore, the result presented here reveals that the abundance of aromatic rings in HS molecular structure plays a critical role in the sorption of selected endocrine disruptors. ... Read more

Product Description
In recent years, it has become evident that many chemicals present in the environment can mimic, antagonize or alter the physiological actions of endogenous hormones. These compounds have been termed endocrine disrupters (EDs) and defined as exogenous substances that cause adverse health effects in an intact organism or in its progeny, consequent to changes in endocrine function . EDs, even when present in minute amounts (part per trillion), could interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, metabolism, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones responsible for homeostasis maintenance, reproduction, and developmental processes.

Currently more than 100 chemicals have been identified as EDs. Within this heterogeneous group of molecules we find: (a) synthetic chemicals used in industry, agriculture, and consumer products; (b) synthetic chemicals used as pharmaceutical drugs; and (c) natural chemicals found in human and animal food. About half of these compounds are substituted with halogen groups, mostly chlorine and bromine, and include dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, methoxychlor, dieldrin, and hexachlorocyclohexane. EDs have long environmental half-life resulting in a continue increase of their global concentration in the environment and can be detected and may concentrate at great distances from where they are produced, used or released. EDs have very low water solubility and extremely high lipid solubility, leading to their bioaccumulation in adipose tissue. Exposure to EDs can occur from a number of different sources: humans and animals can be exposed involuntarily by drinking contaminated polluted water, breathing contaminated air, ingesting food, contacting contaminated soil or even in the workplace.

Although endocrine disruption has only received high-profile attention for just over a decade, the phenomenon does have a longer historical background...

The review presented in this book has been written under the sponsorship of the Interuniversitary Consortium "National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems (INBB)", constituted by 26 Public Italian Universities. INBB is stimulating the research on endocrine disruptors, by encouraging and coordinating joint research projects between its members and those of other Italian public scientific institutions. This book represents one of the results of the meeting "The biological and clinical research on endocrine disruptors: current status and perspectives", held in Rome during 2005 from October 27 to 28 and organized by INBB and ISPESL (Istituto Superiore Prevenzione e Sicurezza del Lavoro)...

These reviews emphasize that many environmental chemicals possess endocrine-disrupting properties, and that exposure to such chemicals can have adverse effects on health and reproduction even at very low concentrations. Great care should be used when attempting to apply these data to other species or real life situations. Indeed only a paucity of information is available on the metabolism and tissue distribution of these chemicals which may vary according to species physiology as well as to levels and duration of exposure. Furthermore, the possible interactions between single contaminants of the complex mixtures present in the environment may induce completely unpredictable effects, due to synergies or reciprocal inhibition effects, suggesting great caution in drawing conclusions. It is hoped that these reviews will serve to stimulate further research on EDs and human health. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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The Llobregat basin is a Mediterranean fluvial system with major agricultural, urban and industrial impacts. We combined chemical quantification by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with electrospray interface (LC-ESI-MS) and the recombinant yeast assay (RYA) assays to estimate the loads of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) along the basin. Chemical analysis revealed maximum concentrations (at @mgl^-^1 level) of alkylphenols at the lower course of the Llobregat River, which correlated with high levels of estrogenic activity detected by RYA. Analysis by RYA and LC-ESI-MS of influent and effluent waters from four sewage treatment plants (STP) discharging into the basin showed the removal of 80-95% of EDCs by STP treatment. Chemical analysis data and RYA data showed a quasi-linear correlation, demonstrating the complementariness of both methods. Our data suggest that the concentrations of the analysed compounds were enough to explain the total estrogenicity of water and STP samples from the Llobregat basin. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Pamphlet by: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1894 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Endocrine disruptors.(Disease/Disorder overview)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Pamphlet by: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Pamphlet)
Date: June 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

Article Type: Disease/Disorder overview

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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The direct photolysis of an important endocrine disruptor compound, di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), has been investigated under monochromatic UV irradiation at 254nm over a wide pH range (3-11). The investigation was carried out under idealized conditions and has considered both reaction kinetics and the degradation mechanism. It was found that more than 90% of DBP can be degraded within an hour of irradiation in water. A simple model has been developed and used to predict the initial DBP photolysis rate constant at different pH values and initial DBP concentrations. The major decomposition mechanism of DBP is believed to involve the hydrolytic photolysis of the carbon in the @a and/or @b-position of the ester chain with the production of aromatic carboxylic derivatives. Additionally, multi-degradation pathways are proposed for acid-catalyzed hydrolytic photolysis (pH 3-5), which was found to be useful in explaining the photo-degradation of DBP under acidic conditions. The use of 254nm UV to photo-degrade DBP was found to be a relatively fast and clean process, especially in neutral to basic conditions. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Defense Counsel Journal, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 7865 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Endocrine disrupters: the potential cloud of manufacturer toxic tort liability.
Author: Bruce J. Berger
Publication: Defense Counsel Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 74Issue: 2Page: 106(13)

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Chemosphere, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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In the last few years many concerns have been raised regarding the environmental safety of alkylphenol polyethoxylate surfactants (APnEOs).They are widely used in detergents, paints, herbicides and many other formulated products. It has been estimated that 60% of APnEOs end up in the aquatic environment; they are biodegradable and transformed into alkylphenols, such as nonylphenol and octylphenol that are hydrophobic and tend to accumulate. In the present study, acute and chronic aquatic toxicity and the estrogenic activity of the following eight alkylphenols were assessed: 4-nonylphenol, 4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol-10-ethoxylate, 4-tert-octylphenol, POE (1 to 2)-nonylphenol, POE (6)-nonylphenol, POE (3)-tert-octylphenol and POE (9 to 10)-tert-octylphenol. The toxic potential was measured on the crustaceans Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia, while the estrogenic activity was determined by using the YES-test with the strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae RMY326. The results showed that the exposure of crustaceans to the eight xenoestrogens investigated caused both acute and chronic effects. The EC50 values found for C. dubia at 48h were compared to D. magna at 24h and, gave a first indication about the toxic activity of the compounds investigated, that is better expressed in the long-term. In fact, chronic data showed a strong increase in toxicity with EC50 values one or two orders of magnitude lower than the acute values. The results of the YES-test showed that nonylphenol, octylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol were the most estrogenic and the bioassay was able to detect their estrogenicity at very low concentrations (ng-@mg/l). ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from World Watch, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 713 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hormone-altering chemicals in everyday products.(endocrine-disrupting chemicals)
Author: Paul W. McRandle
Publication: World Watch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 20Issue: 2Page: 5(1)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Environmental Health Perspectives, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2007. The length of the article is 8683 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Atrazine-induced aromatase expression is SF-1 dependent: implications for endocrine disruption in wildlife and reproductive cancers in humans.(Research)(Case study)(Clinical report)
Author: WuQiang Fan
Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 115Issue: 5Page: 720(8)

Article Type: Case study, Clinical report

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Environmental Research, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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In the past 15 years, anomalies of male sexual differentiation have greatly increased in both wildlife and humans in different parts of the world. Environmental endocrine disruptors have been implicated in the dramatic rise in neonatal ambiguous genitalia with variable rates of severity, such as micropenis, cryptorchidism, and isolated or associated hypospadias. Because most environmental pollutants, such as organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and furans, alkylphenol polyetholyethoxylates, and phytoestrogens and phtalates, have estrogenic and antiandrogenic activity, they are able to interfere with normal fetal male sexual differentiation. In a neonatal screening program of ambiguous genitalia, we had the opportunity to evaluate three newborns with male pseudohermaphroditism (MPH) whose mothers were exposed to endocrine disruptors during pregnancy. All had normal testosterone production after human chorionic gonadotrophin stimulation testing, suggesting androgen resistance or so-called idiopathic MPH. Sequences of the 5@a reductase and androgen receptor genes were normal. Since environmental pollutants are known for their estrogenic activity and can be released progressively from the adipose tissue where they accumulate, we detected their presence by measuring the estrogenic bioactivity of the newborns' serum with a recently developed ultrasensitive bioassay. We found higher estrogenic bioactivity in these newborns than in controls. In conclusion, the maternal exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy and high estrogenic bioactivity in the newborns' serum highly suggest that ambiguous genitalia are related to fetal exposure to endocrine disruptors. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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To study physiological and biochemical effects of demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicides on non-target insects, larvae of the cabbage moth, Mamestra brassicae L., were exposed orally to propiconazole, (R,S)-1-[2-(2,4-diclophenyl)-4-propyl-1,3-dioolan-2-ylmetyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazole (100, 200 and 600 mg L^-^1) and fenpropimorph, (+/-)-cis-4-[3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methylpropyl] 2,6-dimethylmorpholinc (10, 100, 200 and 600 mg L^-^1) in a semi-synthetic diet. Ten mg L^-^1 of fenpropimorph reduced larval weight and induced in vitro glutathione S-transferase activity. Reduced larval and pupal growth rate, reduced survival, prolonged developmental time, and altered patterns of larval survival and adult emergence were found for one or both fungicides in at least one of the concentrations tested. The results suggest, that although the use of agricultural fungicides is generally regarded as of minor ecotoxicological consequence for insects, feeding on DMI-treated crops may influence insect fitness, and may also leave them susceptible to pesticide treatments or to residues of pesticides and other pollutants in their food. Standard methods to detect such effects should be developed for use in the environmental risk assessment of these products. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Environmental Pollution, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Effects of trenbolone (TBOH), a hormone used in cattle production, on the structure and function of microbial communities in a fresh water sediment from a lake in Southern Germany were studied in a microcosm experiment. The microbial community structure and the total gene pool of the sediment, assessed by 16S rRNA/rDNA and RAPD fingerprint analysis, respectively, were not significantly affected by TBOH. In contrast, the N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity was almost 50% lower in TBOH treated samples (P<0.05). Also, the substrate utilization potential, measured using the BIOLOG^(R) system, was reduced after TBOH treatment. Interestingly, this potential did not recover at the end of the experiment, i.e. 19 days after the addition of the chemical. Repeated application of TBOH did not lead to an additional reduction in the substrate utilization potential. Overall results indicate that microbial community function was more sensitive to TBOH treatment than the community structure and the total gene pool. ... Read more