Research Progress of the Endocrine-Disrupting Effects of Disinfection Byproducts

Abstract

Since 1974, more than 800 disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have been identified from disinfected drinking water, swimming pool water, wastewaters, etc. Some DBPs are recognized as contaminants of high environmental concern because they may induce many detrimental health (e.g., cancer, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity) and/or ecological (e.g., acute toxicity and development toxicity on alga, crustacean, and fish) effects. However, the information on whether DBPs may elicit potential endocrine-disrupting effects in human and wildlife is scarce. It is the major objective of this paper to summarize the reported potential endocrine-disrupting effects of the identified DBPs in the view of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs). In this regard, we introduce the potential molecular initiating events (MIEs), key events (KEs), and adverse outcomes (AOs) associated with exposure to specific DBPs. The present evidence indicates that the endocrine system of organism can be perturbed by certain DBPs through some MIEs, including hormone receptor-mediated mechanisms and non-receptor-mediated mechanisms (e.g., hormone transport protein). Lastly, the gaps in our knowledge of the endocrine-disrupting effects of DBPs are highlighted, and critical directions for future studies are proposed.

Potential Disrupting Effects of Wastewater-Derived Disinfection Byproducts on Chinese Rare Minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) Transthyretin: An In Vitro and In Silico Study

“…For potential endocrine disrupting effects of DBPs, previous research focused mainly on determining the effects of some DBPs on various kinds of proteins and cell lines from humans and other mammals. − For example, the results from in vitro assay documented that DBPs could interfere hormone transporters (i.e., human transthyretin (hTTR) and human serum albumin), activate/inhibit hormone receptors such as human or rat estrogen receptor, − human androgen receptor, ,, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), , and retinoid X receptor, and inhibit follicle growth and steroidogenesis in mouse ovarian antral follicles . The in vivo study also found that iodoacetic acid (IAA) could disrupt the rat thyroid system and elicit reproductive and developmental toxicity .…”

Investigating the endocrine disruption effects of four disinfection byproducts on zebrafish estrogen receptor-α

“…Whereas toxicological data on fish have also included histological as well as biochemical adverse effects (Lata et al, 2023). Regarding the endocrine disruption of DBPs, some studies have investigated the effects of DBPs in fish (Chaves et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2022), including endocrine disrupting effects on medaka fish estrogen receptor a (Sui et al, 2022). However, limited information exists on their effects on zebrafish estrogen receptor a (zERa) (Lee et al, 2023).…”