Author(s)

S. Etteieb, A. Kawachi, J. Han, J. Tarhouni & H. Isoda

Abstract

The presence of endocrine disrupting compounds in surface water, into which, effluents from diverse anthropogenic activities (urban, industrial and agricultural) are discharged should be severely considered. In this study, the performance of Modified E-screen assay, or MCF-7 cell proliferation assay, was evaluated to test the estrogenic activity of surface water in Tunisia. To achieve this purpose, 14 location sites were sampled and analyzed for chemical parameters and biological activity. Results showed that some samples registered high Chemical Oxygen Demand values above the Tunisian guidelines, indicating the presence of high organic pollution. Then, Modified E-screen assay confirmed the presence of estrogenic compounds demonstrated by a significant proliferation level of MCF 7 cells in a dose dependent manner. Estrogenic activity in MCF7 cells was very significant (t-test, p < 0.01) in contact with the tested samples at the following concentrations 0.00001%, 0.0001%, 0.001% and 0.01%. When applied to complex environmental matrices or mixture samples, in vitro estrogenicity screens help estimating the overall estrogen-mimicking load. Therefore, this study, among other E-screen studies, supports the use of MCF-7 cell proliferation as estrogenicity screen for complex samples. Such survey allows identifying the environmental risks of surface water pollution and contamination, to ensure an efficient management of water resources and the

Keywords