Soto A M, Justicia H, Wray J W, Sonnenschein C
Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University Health Sciences Schools, Boston, MA 02111.
Environ Health Perspect. 1991 May;92:167-73. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9192167.
Alkylphenols are widely used as plastic additives and surfactants. We report the identification of an alkylphenol, nonylphenol, as an estrogenic substance released from plastic centrifuge tubes. This compound was extracted with methanol, purified by flash chromatography and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography, and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Nonylphenol induced both cell proliferation and progesterone receptor in human estrogen-sensitive MCF7 breast tumor cells. Nonylphenol also triggered mitotic activity in rat endometrium; this result confirms the reliability of the MCF7 cell proliferation bioassay. The estrogenic properties of alkylphenols, specifically nonylphenols, indicate that the use of plasticware containing these chemicals in experimental and diagnostic tests may lead to spurious results, and these compounds as well as alkylphenol polyethoxylates may also be potentially harmful to exposed humans and the environment at large.
烷基酚被广泛用作塑料添加剂和表面活性剂。我们报告了一种烷基酚——壬基酚,被鉴定为从塑料离心管中释放出的一种雌激素物质。该化合物用甲醇萃取,通过快速柱色谱和反相高效液相色谱纯化,并通过气相色谱 - 质谱法鉴定。壬基酚在人雌激素敏感的MCF7乳腺肿瘤细胞中诱导细胞增殖和孕酮受体。壬基酚还引发大鼠子宫内膜的有丝分裂活性;这一结果证实了MCF7细胞增殖生物测定的可靠性。烷基酚,特别是壬基酚的雌激素特性表明,在实验和诊断测试中使用含有这些化学物质的塑料制品可能会导致虚假结果,并且这些化合物以及烷基酚聚乙氧基化物也可能对接触到的人类和整个环境具有潜在危害。