The pesticides endosulfan, toxaphene, and dieldrin have estrogenic effects on human estrogen-sensitive cells

Abstract

Estrogenic pesticides such as DDT and chlordecone generate deleterious reproductive effects. An "in culture" bioassay was used to assess the estrogenicity of several pesticides. The E-screen test uses human breast estrogen-sensitive MCF7 cells and compares the cell yield achieved after 6 days of culture in medium supplemented with 5% charcoal-dextran stripped human serum in the presence (positive control) or absence (negative control) of estradiol and with diverse concentrations of xenobiotics suspected of being estrogenic. Among the organochlorine pesticides tested, toxaphene, dieldrin, and endosulfan had estrogenic properties comparable to those of DDT and chlordecone; the latter are known to be estrogenic in rodent models. The E-screen test also revealed that estrogenic chemicals may act cumulatively; when mixed together they induce estrogenic responses at concentrations lower than those required when each compound is administered alone.