| The Pesticides Endosulfan, Toxaphene, and Dieldrin Have Estrogenic Effects on Human Estrogen-Sensitive Cells Ana M. Soto, Kerrie L. Chung, and Carlos Sonnenschein Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111 USA Abstract
Estrogenic pesticides such as DDT and chlordecone generate deleterious reproductive effects. An "in culture" bioassay was used to assess the estrogenicity of several pesticides. The E-screen test uses human breast estrogen-sensitive MCF7 cells and compares the cell yield achieved after 6 days of culture in medium supplemented with 5% charcoal-dextran stripped human serum in the presence (positive control) or absence (negative control) of estradiol and with diverse concentrations of xenobiotics suspected of being estrogenic. Among the organochlorine pesticides tested, toxaphene, dieldrin, and endosulfan had estrogenic properties comparable to those of DDT and chlordecone ; the latter are known to be estrogenic in rodent models. The E-screen test also revealed that estrogenic chemicals may act cumulatively ; when mixed together they induce estrogenic responses at concentrations lower than those required when each compound is administered alone. Key words: bioassay, estrogens, pesticides, xenobiotic. Environ Health Perspect 102: 380-383(1994) http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1994/102-4/soto.html
Address correspondence to A.M. Soto, Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111 USA. We thank Howard Bern, M. Fatima Olea-Serrano, and Nicolas Olea for their helpful advice. This work was partially supported by grants from the W. Alton Jones Foundation, EPA-CR 820301, NIH-CA-13410, and NSF-DCB-9105594. Received 12 November 1993 ; accepted 16 February 1994.
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