ENDOCRINE AND REPRODUCTIVE EFFECTS OF UV-FILTERS, OXYBENZONE AND BENZOPHENONE IN FISH

Michael Coronado, Mary Ann Rempel, Daniel Schlenk (UCLEADS, Louis Stokes California Alliance for Minority Participation (LSCAMP)) Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside CA 92521

Recent studies in extracts of sediments surrounding municipal outfalls off the coast of California, USA indicated the UV-filtering agents (oxybenzone) as a potential estrogen. To confirm these results, oxybenzone and benzophenone were evaluated for estrogenic activity using a juvenile rainbow trout assay. Three 14 day static-renewal exposures were carried out: one with oxybenzone, one with benzophenone and the other with a commercial sunscreen containing oxybenzone as the active ingredient. At the end of the 14 day exposure, the fish were sacrificed and vitellogenin expression was measured in the plasma by ELISA. Results showed estrogenic activity at 1000 ng/L approximately is 100 times greater than concentrations observed in previous wastewater effluent. Intraperitoneal injection of oxybenzone up to 1000 ng/g body weight failed to show a relationship to that of the studies previously with sediment extracts near the outfalls off the coast of California, USA. To evaluate the reproductive effects of each agent, Japanese Medaka were exposed to aqueous concentrations of oxybenzone and benzophenone that elicited vitellogenin induction from the previous study. Fecundity and hatchability showed a similar trend with that of vitellogenin induction, but no significant differences were observed relative to control with both agents. These data indicate that the UV filters, oxybenzone and benzophenone do not alter endocrine or reproduction endpoints in two fish species at concentrations measured in the environment.

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