Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 7535, South Africa.
Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2011;213:27-54. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-9860-6_2.
Organotin compounds result from the addition of organic moieties to inorganic tin.Thus, one or more tin-carbon bonds exist in each organotin molecule. The organo-tin compounds are ubiquitous in the environment. Organotin compounds have many uses, including those as fungicides and stabilizers in plastics, among others in industry. The widespread use of organotins as antifouling agents in boat paints has resulted in pollution of freshwater and marine ecosystems. The presence of organotin compounds in freshwater and marine ecosystems is now understood to be a threat, because of the amounts found in water and the toxicity of some organotin compounds to aquatic organisms, and perhaps to humans as well. Organotin com-pounds are regarded by many to be global pollutants of a stature similar to biphenyl,mercury, and the polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. This stature results from the high toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, and endocrine disruptive features of even very low levels of selected organotin compounds.Efforts by selected governmental agencies and others have been undertaken to find a global solution to organotin pollution. France was the first country to ban the use of the organotins in 1980. This occurred before the international maritime organization (IMO) called for a global treaty to ban the application of tributyltin (TBT)-based paints. In this chapter, we review the organotin compounds with emphasis on the human exposure, fate, and distribution of them in the environment. The widespread use of the organotins and their high stability have led to contamination of some aquatic ecosystems. As a result, residues of the organotins may reach humans via food consumption. Notwithstanding the risk of human exposure, only limited data are available on the levels at which the organotins exist in foodstuffs consumed by humans. Moreover, the response of marine species to the organotins, such as TBT, has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, more data on the organotins and the consequences of exposure to them are needed. In particular, we believe the following areas need attention: expanded toxicity testing in aquatic species, human exposure, human body burdens, and the research to identify biomarkers for testing the toxicity of the organotins to marine invertebrates.
有机锡化合物是由无机锡与有机基团结合而成。因此，每个有机锡分子中都存在一个或多个锡-碳键。有机锡化合物在环境中无处不在。有机锡化合物有许多用途，包括作为杀菌剂和塑料稳定剂等，在工业中也有其他用途。有机锡作为船用涂料中的防污剂被广泛使用，导致淡水和海洋生态系统受到污染。由于在水中发现的有机锡化合物的数量以及一些有机锡化合物对水生生物甚至人类的毒性，现在人们已经认识到有机锡化合物在淡水和海洋生态系统中的存在是一种威胁。许多人认为有机锡化合物是与联苯、汞和多氯二苯并对二恶英一样具有全球性的污染物。这种地位是由于即使是极低水平的某些有机锡化合物也具有很高的毒性、持久性、生物蓄积性和内分泌干扰特性。一些政府机构和其他机构已经努力寻找解决有机锡污染的全球解决方案。法国是第一个在 1980 年禁止使用有机锡的国家。这是在国际海事组织（IMO）呼吁制定一项禁止使用三丁基锡（TBT）基涂料的全球条约之前发生的。在本章中，我们重点介绍有机锡化合物，重点介绍它们在环境中的人类暴露、命运和分布。有机锡的广泛使用及其高稳定性导致一些水生生态系统受到污染。因此，有机锡的残留物可能通过食物摄入到达人类。尽管存在人类暴露的风险，但关于人类食用的食物中存在的有机锡化合物的水平，只有有限的数据。此外，海洋物种对有机锡化合物（如 TBT）的反应尚未得到彻底研究。因此，需要更多关于有机锡化合物以及暴露于这些化合物的后果的数据。特别是，我们认为以下领域需要关注：在水生物种中扩大毒性测试、人类暴露、人体负荷以及识别用于测试有机锡化合物对海洋无脊椎动物毒性的生物标志物的研究。
