Endocrine disruptor chemicals are known to cause a range of abnormalities in sexual differentiation and reproduction. One mechanism underlying such effects may be via alteration of aromatase activity, which is responsible for estrogen production. A good screening system for identifying endocrine disruptors has long been desired. We have recently established a human ovarian granulosa-like tumor ...

Evidence suggesting that certain chemicals may bind to endogenous hormone receptors and disturb normal endocrine functioning, thereby increasing the risk of reproductive problems and cancer in humans, has led to international efforts to screen chemicals for endocrine activity and potential health effects. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recommended that some 87,000 commercial...

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are known for their capacity to alter development and reproduction in mammals. One of the periods most sensitive to endocrine disruptor exposure is embryonic gonadal sex determination, when the germ line is undergoing epigenetic programming and DNA re-methylation. Epigenetic changes derived from exposure to endocrine disruptors have been described in several tissu...

There are increasing evidences that show many xenobiotic chemicals (called as endocrine disruptorchemicals EDCs) through interfering with endocrine system, have the capability to induce developmentaland reproductive abnormalities in humans and animals. The yolk protein precursor vitellogenin (VTG) hasproved to be a simple and sensitive biomarker for assessing exposure of fish to EDCs especially...

Prioritizing Endocrine-Disruptor Screening Using ToxPi Visually translating the integration of ToxCast data July 6, 2010 Impact Statement This research paper presents ToxPi (Toxicological Priority Index), a new weight-of-evidence framework for profiling and prioritizing chemicals. It numerically integrates various knowledge sources about chemical specific properties (biological and chemical). T...

The potential health and ecological effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals has become a high visibility environmental issue. The 1990s have witnessed a growing concern, both on the part of the scientific community and the public, that environmental chemicals may be causing widespread effects in humans and in a variety of fish and wildlife species. This growing concern led the Committee on th...

Introduction The association between the exposure and bioaccumulation of endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDCs) and their adverse effects on human and wild life populations has raised concern worldwide. Due to the detrimental effects of environmental exposure to EDCs, there is an obvious need to develop a relevant bioassay, which can both detect these chemicals, as well as provide a relevant esti...

In the last 30 years, there is increasing concern about chemical pollutants that have the ability to act as hormone mimics. Because of structural similarity with endogenous hormones, their ability to interact with hormone transport proteins, or their ability to disrupt hormone metabolism, these environmental chemicals have the potential mimic, or in some cases block, the effects of endogenous h...

The hypothesis that hormonally active compounds in the environment--endocrine disrupters--are having a significant impact on human and ecological health has captured the public's attention like no other toxicity concern since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring 1962. In the early 1990s, Theo Colborn and others began to synthesize information about the potential impacts of endocrine...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW There has been a substantial increase in the prevalence of obesity in the last several decades. Recent evidence suggests that endocrine-disrupting chemicals, for example halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, may cause perturbations in endogenous hormonal regulation and alter other mechanisms involved in weight homeostasis, which may lead to weight gain by increased volume of adip...