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USEPA/USGS Study of CECs in Source Water and Treated Drinking Water: Assessment of Estrogenic Activity Using an In Vitro Bioassay, T47D-KBluc.
Citation:
WILSON, V. S., N. Evans, K. M. SCHENCK, H. MASH, L. ROSENBLUM, AND S. GLASSMEYER. USEPA/USGS Study of CECs in Source Water and Treated Drinking Water: Assessment of Estrogenic Activity Using an In Vitro Bioassay, T47D-KBluc. Presented at Society of Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) 23rd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 13 - 17, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
One study goal is developing tools that can be used in source waters and drinking water systems to evaluate the cumulative biological activity on critical endpoints.
Description:
Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are collaborating on a research study to determine the presence of contaminants of emerging concern in treated and untreated drinking water collected from up to 50 drinking water treatment plants from across the United States. One study goal is developing tools that can be used in source waters and drinking water systems to evaluate the cumulative biological activity on critical endpoints. Our lab has developed an in vitro transcriptional activation assay, T47D-KBluc assay, which has been adapted for screening of environmental samples for estrogenic activity. These cells endogenously express both human ER alpha and beta and are stably integrated with an estrogen responsive promoter-luciferase reporter construct. This assay was confirmed by comparison to analytical chemistry to accurately predict estrogenic activity in water and effluent samples in a multi-lab collaborative study with the Global Water Research Coalition (GWRC). These assays have been successfully used to screen many types of samples including effluents from waste water treatment and cattle, dairy, swine and poultry operations. Further, with complex mixtures, it is important to understand how compounds with similar or different mechanisms of action would affect assay results. Several defined mixture studies have, therefore, also been conducted. These successes support the use of bioassays to evaluate estrogenic activity in the proposed study. The focus of this part of the study is detection of potential estrogen-mediated activity in extracts from treated and untreated drinking water. Water from plants using various treatment processes will be tested. In vitro results from the current study will be compared to analytical chemistry identification of endocrine active compounds. Initial testing of control and mock-up sample extracts have confirmed appropriate responses and indicate a high degree of confidence of in vitro results may be possible. The current successes in evaluating endocrine activity via the estrogen pathway indicate that bioassays targeting other pathways could be developed and used to evaluate water samples as well. Disclaimer: This abstract does not necessarily reflect U.S. EPA policy