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An evaluation of the combined effects of phenolic endocrine disruptors on vitellogenin induction in goldfish Carassius auratus

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Abstract

Phenolic compounds are widely distributed in the natural environment, typically existing as a mixture at the nanogram or microgram per liter level. Among the phenolic compounds, 4-nonylphenol, 4-t-octylphenol, bisphenol A and 2,4-dichlorophenol attract the most concern due to their abundance and risks within the natural environment. The former three chemicals are known as endocrine disruptors causing feminization in various organisms, whereas the latter one requires further clarification concerning its feminization effect. This study aims to evaluate the combined effects of these chemicals using vitellogenin protein induction in male juvenile goldfish Carassius auratus as an endpoint after 15 days of exposure. The results showed that all these chemicals can induce vitellogenin with a relative potency of 4-t-octylphenol > bisphenol A > 4-nonylphenol ≫ 2,4-dichlorophenol. 2,4-dichlorophenol showed a very weak estrogenic effect with an induction of vitellogenin concentration of <1 % of positive control, and it is therefore omitted in further tests to evaluate their combined effect. The other three chemicals were mixed in two ways, at an equipotent ratio and at an equal environmental level ratio, and their combined effects were evaluated with both the toxicity units method and concentration addition model. The resulting effect of exposure to both mixtures showed that these chemicals generally exhibited an additive effect. The ecological risk of phenolic chemicals may therefore be underestimated if based on the presence of single chemicals whereas their combined effects warrant further consideration.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Ocean Public Service Foundation (No. 201005012-2) and National Science and Technology Foundation of China (No. 2009ZX07528-006-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, 266100, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China

    Zhengyan Li, Haili Zhang & Ping Liu

  2. Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, Sexton Campus, 1360 Barrington St., P.O. Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3J 2X4, Canada

    Mark Gibson

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  1. Zhengyan Li
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  2. Haili Zhang
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  3. Mark Gibson
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  4. Ping Liu
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Correspondence to Zhengyan Li.

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Li, Z., Zhang, H., Gibson, M. et al. An evaluation of the combined effects of phenolic endocrine disruptors on vitellogenin induction in goldfish Carassius auratus . Ecotoxicology 21, 1919–1927 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-012-0925-0

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