You are here:
In vitro detection of androgenic and estrogenic activity in complex environmental effluent samples: Lessions learned
Citation:
WILSON, V. S., C. R. LAMBRIGHT, K. L. BOBSEINE, P. C. HARTIG, AND L. E. GRAY. In vitro detection of androgenic and estrogenic activity in complex environmental effluent samples: Lessions learned. Presented at SETAC World Congress, Sydney, AUSTRALIA, August 03 - 07, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation at SETAC World Congress
Description:
Fish living in ecosystems contaminated with effluents from human or domestic animal wastes display reproductive alterations suggesting hormone disruption. Recent research with effluent from cattle feeding operations in the US have associated morphological alterations in fish collected from the field with in vitro androgenic activity in water samples from affected sites. Identification of the causative agent in the sample through traditional analytical methods can be cost prohibitive. The use of in vitro assays to test for potential hormonal activity, therefore, is attractive. The overall hormonal activity of the water sample can be obtained more quickly and generally at lower cost than analytical method development. In vitro results can be used to target chemical analyses toward hormonally active samples thus conserving valuable resources. We have developed several in vitro assays, including transcriptional activation and receptor binding assays, which we have adapted for use as tools for screening of effluent and other water samples for estrogenic and androgenic activity. These assays have been used to screen many types of samples from cattle, dairy, swine and poultry operations and also from different matrices including point (effluent) or non-point (agricultural run-off; groundwater and surface water) sources. This presentation will provide an integrated overview of those studies and will discuss problems and issues associated with in vitro assays and effluent samples as well as some approaches that we used to deal with those issues. Some issues include procedures for collection, handling, shipping and preparation of samples to be used in bioassays, evaluation of lab supplies to avoid inadvertent addition or removal of hormonal activity, and evaluation of different approaches to test samples (e.g. whole water vs. effluent vs. extracts) as well as standard methods of reporting results.