Investigations on the effects of alkyl polyglucosides on development and fertility

Alkyl polyglucosides are non-ionic surfactants which are mainly used in laundry detergents, hard surface cleaners and personal care products. Two in vitro screening test systems were used to investigate the endocrine modulating potential of alkyl polyglucosides. No indications were observed for any estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effects in an MCF-7 E-Screen assay and a reporter gene assay using luciferase-transfected MCF-7 cells. Concentrations exceeding the effect concentration of estradiol by a factor of 1000 did not reveal any indication for an estrogenic activity. Furthermore, in a combination assay investigating the effects of estradiol in the presence of alkyl polyglucoside, no anti-estrogenic potential was observed. In an one-generation screening assay in rats no effects on the fertility were observed up to the highest dose of 1000 mg/kg bw/day alkyl glucoside. Potential embryo-/fetotoxicity and/or teratogenicity was investigated in a segment II study in rats. No effects were noted up to the limit dose of 1000 mg/kg bw/day. All parameters of the treatment groups were comparable with those of the control group. Skeletal and visceral investigations did not detect any treatment-related malformations. For the embryo/fetotoxicity, the teratogenicity and the maternal toxicity a NOAEL of 1000 mg/kg was deduced.