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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Methods to Test Endocrine Disruption in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: July 3, 2019
Endocrine disruptor activity of multiple environmental food chain contaminants
E Wielogórska1, C T Elliott, M Danaher
1Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Industrial chemicals, antimicrobials, drugs and personal care products have been reported as global pollutants which enter the food chain. Some of them have also been classified as endocrine disruptors based on results of various studies employing a number of in vitro/vivo tests. The present study employed a mammalian reporter gene assay to assess the effects of known and emerging contaminants on estrogen nuclear receptor transactivation. Out of fifty-nine compounds assessed, estrogen receptor agonistic activity was observed for parabens( n = 3), UV filters (n = 6), phthalates (n = 4) and a metabolite, pyrethroids (n = 9) and their metabolites (n = 3). Two compounds were estrogen receptor antagonists while some of the agonists enhanced 17b-estradiol mediated response.This study reports five new compounds (pyrethroids and their metabolites) possessing estrogen agonist activity and highlights for the first time that pyrethroid metabolites are of particular concern showing much greater estrogenic activity than their parent compounds.
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