Zebrafish larvae display reduced body length and disruption of important components of hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis upon waterborne exposure to bisphenol F (BPF, CAS 620-92-8), according to a scientific study by Guo-min Huang and colleagues from the Department of General Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, China. The study was published on January 7, 2016 in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere.
BPF is widely used as an alternative to bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, despite the fact that it exhibits similar hormonal activities, notably estrogenic and anti-androgenic ones (FPF reported). The scientists now also demonstrate the potential for thyroid disruption in zebrafish: Exposure of zebrafish embryos to BPF during the first 6 days of development caused alterations in whole-body content of thyroid hormones (a decrease for thyroxine (T4) and an increase for triiodothyronine (T3), both significant at 200 µg/L BPF), an increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone (significant at 20 µg/L BPF) and changes in several genes related to HPT axis, some being significant already at 2 µg/L BPF. Further, a decrease in body length was observed, significant at 200 µg/L BPF. The authors conclude that BPF shows “a clear thyroid endocrine toxicity,” at least in fish embryo.
Reference
Huang, G. et al. (2016). “Waterborne exposure to bisphenol F causes thyroid endocrine disruption in zebrafish larvae.” Chemosphere 147:188-194.
