The antimicrobial triclocarban stimulates embryo production in the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum

Abstract

Recent research has indicated that the antimicrobial chemical triclocarban (TCC) represents a new type of endocrine disruptor, amplifying the transcriptional activity of steroid hormones and their receptors while itself exhibiting little affinity for these receptors. The effects of TCC were studied in the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Specimens were exposed to concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 10.5 μg/L dissolved TCC and were removed and dissected, and embryos contained within the brood pouch were counted and classified as shelled or unshelled after2 and 4weeksof exposure. After 4 weeks, environmentally relevant TCC concentrations of 1.6 to 10.5 μg/L resulted in statistically significant increases in the number of unshelled embryos, while 0.2, 1.6, and 10.5 μg/L exposures significantly increased numbers of shelled embryos. The lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was 0.2 μg/L, the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) was 0.05 μg/L, and the EC10 and EC50 for unshelled effects were 0.5 μg/L and 2.5 μg/L, respectively. Given the widespread occurrence of TCC in the environment and effects shown at environmentally relevant concentrations, these results indicate that TCC may be causing reproductive effects in the environment. Furthermore, the present study indicates that environmental risk from a new class of EDCs is both qualitatively and quantitatively similar to risk from existing classes of EDCs.

Screening the Toxicity of Selected Personal Care Products Using Embryo Bioassays: 4-MBC, Propylparaben and Triclocarban

“…Recent studies indicate that triclocarban can behave as an endocrine disrupting chemical, affecting the transcription of steroid sex hormones in human cell lines [41,42]. It was also shown that a diet containing a mixture of triclocarban and testosterone, fed to male castrated rats, resulted in synergetic effects and increase of gonad weight, in comparison with the control diets or single compound diets [41].…”

Effects of bisphenol A and triclocarban on brain-specific expression of aromatase in early zebrafish embryos

“…In vivo, TCC strongly amplifies effects of testosterone on male sex organs in castrated male rats (34,35). In snails, TCC can stimulate an increase in embryo production, a response that has been used previously in that system to assay for xenoestrogens (36). To date, no studies of TCC's effects on transcription of known estrogen target genes have been reported.…”

Nanomolar concentration of triclocarban increases the vulnerability of rat thymocytes to oxidative stress

“…It is present in surface waters and bioaccumulates in aquatic animals (Coogan and La Point, 2008;Zhao et al, 2010;Snyder et al, 2011;Schebb et al, 2011a). Triclocarban has attracted some public attention because of reports that it acts as an endocrine disruptor (Chen et al, 2008;Giudice and Young, 2010). However, there is limited information concerning the cytotoxic actions of triclocarban in mammalian cells, although these actions have been examined, to some extent, in aquatic and terrestrial organisms (Lawrence et al, 2009;Snyder et al, 2011).…”