Exposure to a Low Dose Mixture of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Alters the Brain Transcriptome and Animal Behavior
Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health (PRCCEH)
University of Pennsylvania
In February, a handful of PRCCEH research members collaborated with other authors from the University of Pennsylvania's Perelaman School of Medicine to publish results of their study, which found that exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can have adverse neurological and neurodevelopmental effects at doses well below commonly studied levels. While most prior research has focused on exposures to single EDC chemicals at high concentrations, this study assessed the effects of IdEDC, a low-dose mixture of widely prevalent toxicants at doses representative of normal human exposure levels. In the first phase of the study, cultured mouse neurons were treated with IdEDC. Exposed mouse neurons exhibited altered gene expression as compared to the control group. Next, mice were persistently exposed to IdEDC through their diet and their offspring were assessed for effects. Exposed offspring exhibited differences in development, tactile sensitivity, and sex-spesific changes in motor behavior as compared to the control group. A key takeaway of this study is that there is a need for a better understanding of the impacts of chemical mixtures, even at low doses.