Characterization of estrogen and androgen activity of food contact materials by different in vitro bioassays (YES, YAS, ERα and AR CALUX) and chromatographic analysis (GC-MS, HPLC-MS)

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 7;9(7):e100952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100952. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Endocrine active substances (EAS) show structural similarities to natural hormones and are suspected to affect the human endocrine system by inducing hormone dependent effects. Recent studies with in vitro tests suggest that EAS can leach from packaging into food and may therefore pose a risk to human health. Sample migrates from food contact materials were tested for estrogen and androgen agonists and antagonists with different commonly used in vitro tests. Additionally, chemical trace analysis by GC-MS and HPLC-MS was used to identify potential hormone active substances in sample migrates. A GC-MS method to screen migrates for 29 known or potential endocrine active substances was established and validated. Samples were migrated according to EC 10/2011, concentrated by solid phase extraction and tested with estrogen and androgen responsive reporter gene assays based on yeast cells (YES and YAS) or human osteoblast cells (ERα and AR CALUX). A high level of agreement between the different bioassays could be observed by screening for estrogen agonists. Four out of 18 samples tested showed an estrogen activity in a similar range in both, YES and ERα CALUX. Two more samples tested positive in ERα CALUX due to the lower limits of detection in this assay. Androgen agonists could not be detected in any of the tested samples, neither with YAS nor with AR CALUX. When testing for antagonists, significant differences between yeast and human cell-based bioassays were noticed. Using YES and YAS many samples showed a strong antagonistic activity which was not observed using human cell-based CALUX assays. By GC-MS, some known or supposed EAS were identified in sample migrates that showed a biological activity in the in vitro tests. However, no firm conclusions about the sources of the observed hormone activity could be obtained from the chemical results.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Androgens / pharmacology*
  • Biological Assay / methods*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Endocrine Disruptors / pharmacology
  • Estrogen Receptor alpha / genetics*
  • Estrogens / pharmacology*
  • Food Packaging*
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Genes, Reporter / genetics
  • Humans
  • Luciferases / genetics
  • Osteoblasts / cytology
  • Osteoblasts / metabolism
  • Receptors, Androgen / genetics*
  • Yeasts / genetics*

Substances

  • Androgens
  • Endocrine Disruptors
  • Estrogen Receptor alpha
  • Estrogens
  • Receptors, Androgen
  • Luciferases

Grants and funding

This study was financed by the Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft mbH, in the context of the project “Xeno” (Project 826796). The funding source was not involved in study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of data. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.