Comparison of shor-term estrogenicity tests for identification of hormone-disrupting chemicals Andersen, Helle Raun Andersson, Anna-Maria Arnold, Steven F. Autrup, Herman Barfoed, Marianne Beresford, Nicola Bjerregaard, Poul Christiansen, Lisette Gissel, Birgitte Hummel, René Jørgensen, Eva B. Korsgaard, Bodil Guevel, Remy Le Leffers, Henrik McLachlan, John A. Møller, Anette Nielsen, Jesper Bo Olea Serrano, Nicolás Oles-Karasko, Anita Pakdel, Farzad Pedersen, Knud L. Pérez, Pilar Skakkebæk, Niels Sonnenschein, Carlos Soto, Ana M. Sumpter, John P. Thorpe, Susan Grandjean, Philippe Estrogenic chemicals Estrogens Antiestrogens Estrogenicity tests Binding assay Yeast MCF-7 Vitellogenin The aim of this study was to compare results obtained by eight different short-term assays of estrogenlike actions of chemicals conducted in 10 different laboratories in five countries. Twenty chemicals were selected to represent direct-acting estrogens, compounds with estrogenic metabolites, estrogenic antagonists, and a known cytotoxic agent. Also included in the test panel were 17β-estradiol as a positive control and ethanol as solvent control. The test compounds were coded before distribution. Test methods included direct binding to the estrogen receptor (ER), proliferation of MCF-7 cells, transient reporter gene expression in MCF-7 cells, reporter gene expression in yeast strains stably transfected with the human ER and an estrogen-responsive reporter gene, and vitellogenin production in juvenile rainbow trout. 17β-Estradiol, 17α-ethynyl estradiol, and diethylstilbestrol induced a strong estrogenic response in all test systems. Colchicine caused cytotoxicity only. Bisphenol A induced an estrogenic response in all assays. The results obtained for the remaining test compounds—tamoxifen, ICI 182.780, testosterone, bisphenol A dimethacrylate, 4-n-octylphenol, 4-n-nonylphenol, nonylphenol dodecylethoxylate, butylbenzylphthalate, dibutylphthalate, methoxychlor, o,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, endosulfan, chlomequat chloride, and ethanol—varied among the assays. The results demonstrate that careful standardization is necessary to obtain a reasonable degree of reproducibility. Also, similar methods vary in their sensitivity to estrogenic compounds. Thus, short-term tests are useful for screening purposes, but the methods must be further validated by additional interlaboratory and interassay comparisons to document the reliability of the methods. 2013-05-08T13:13:07Z 2013-05-08T13:13:07Z 1999 journal article Andersen, H.R.; et al. Comparison of shor-term estrogenicity tests for identification of hormone-disrupting chemicals. Environmental Health Perspectives, 107(sup.1): 89-108 (1999). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/24990] 0091-6765 1552-9924 PMCID: PMC1566352 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/24990 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences