Filby Amy L, Neuparth Teresa, Thorpe Karen L, Owen Richard, Galloway Tamara S, Tyler Charles R
School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Dec;115(12):1704-10. doi: 10.1289/ehp.10443.
Environmental estrogens in wastewater treatment work (WwTW) effluents are well established as the principal cause of reproductive disruption in wild fish populations, but their possible role in the wider health effects of effluents has not been established.
We assessed the contribution of estrogens to adverse health effects induced in a model fish species by exposure to WwTW effluents and compared effects of an estrogen alone and as part of a complex mixture (i.e., spiked into effluent).
Growth, genotoxic, immunotoxic, metabolic, and endocrine (feminized) responses were compared in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed for 21 days to a potent estrogenic effluent, a weakly estrogenic effluent before and after spiking with a steroidal estrogen [17 alpha-ethinyl-estradiol (EE2)], and to EE2 alone.
In addition to endocrine disruption, effluent exposure induced genotoxic damage, modulated immune function, and altered metabolism; many of these effects were elicited in a sex-specific manner and were proportional to the estrogenic potencies of the effluents. A key finding was that some of the responses to EE2 were modified when it was present in a complex mixture (i.e., spiked into effluent), suggesting that mixture effects may not be easily modeled for effluent discharges or when the chemicals impact on a diverse array of biological axes.
These data reveal a clear link between estrogens present in effluents and diverse, adverse, and sex-related health impacts. Our findings also highlight the need for an improved understanding of interactive effects of chemical toxicants on biological systems for understanding health effects of environmental mixtures.
污水处理厂（WwTW）排放物中的环境雌激素已被确认为野生鱼类种群生殖功能紊乱的主要原因，但其在排放物更广泛的健康影响中可能发挥的作用尚未明确。
我们评估了雌激素对暴露于WwTW排放物的模式鱼类物种所诱导的不良健康影响的贡献，并比较了单独雌激素以及作为复杂混合物一部分（即添加到排放物中）时的影响。
将黑头呆鱼（Pimephales promelas）暴露于强雌激素性排放物、添加甾体雌激素[17α-乙炔基雌二醇（EE2）]前后的弱雌激素性排放物以及单独的EE2中21天，比较其生长、遗传毒性、免疫毒性、代谢和内分泌（雌性化）反应。
除内分泌干扰外，暴露于排放物还会诱导遗传毒性损伤、调节免疫功能并改变新陈代谢；其中许多影响以性别特异性方式引发，且与排放物的雌激素效力成正比。一个关键发现是，当EE2存在于复杂混合物中（即添加到排放物中）时，对其的一些反应会发生改变，这表明对于排放物排放或化学物质对多种生物轴产生影响时，混合物效应可能不易建模。
这些数据揭示了排放物中存在的雌激素与多种不良的、与性别相关的健康影响之间的明确联系。我们的研究结果还强调，需要更好地理解化学毒物对生物系统的交互作用，以了解环境混合物的健康影响。
