Date: 2010-04-14

1. Pablos MV, Fernández C, del Mar Babín M, María Navas J, Carbonell G, Martini F, García-Hortigüela P, Vicente Tarazona J.(2009). Use of a novel battery of bioassays for the biological characterisation of hazardous wastes. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 72(5):1594-600.

Four toxicity bioassays were used for the biological characterisation of nine hazardous wastes and extracts. The aim of this study is to contribute to the development of a cost-effective battery of toxicity tests for the acute screening of hazardous and toxic wastes for the aquatic compartment. The DR CALUX^® test is implemented in the tests-battery to screen dioxin-like compounds.


2. Jana M. Weiss, Timo Hamers, Kevin V. Thomas, Sander van der Linden, Pim E. G. Leonards and Marja H. Lamoree (2009). Masking effect of anti-androgens on androgenic activity in European river sediment unveiled by effect-directed analysis. Anal Bioanal Chem 394:1385–1397.

Androgen receptor agonistic and antagonists effects in a total sediment have been analysed by AR- and anti-AR CALUX^®. Seventeen chemical structures were tentatively identified. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, a technical mixture of nonylphenol and dibutyl phthalate were identified to contribute to the anti-androgenic potency observed in the river sediment sample. With the GC/MS screening method applied here, no compounds with AR agonistic disrupting potencies could be identified. Seventy-one unidentified peaks, which represent potentially new endocrine disrupters, have been added to a database for future investigation.


3. Kanae Bekki, Hidetaka Takigami, Go Suzuki, Ning Tang and Kazuichi Hayakawa (2009). Evaluation of toxic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives Using In Vitro Bioassays. Journal of Health Sciences 55(4), 601-610.

25 PAH derivatives have been evaluated by DR CALUX^® for their AhR receptor activity and by TR CALUX for their thyroid beta activity. 11 have been AhR agonists, 6 AhR antagonists and 7 have been TR agonists.


4. Bilau M, De Henauw S, Schroijen C, Bruckers L, Den Hond E, Koppen G, Matthys C, Van De Mieroop E, Keune H, Baeyens W, Nelen V, Van Larebeke N, Willems JL, Schoeters G. The relation between the estimated dietary intake of PCDD/Fs and levels in blood in a Flemish population (50–65 years). Environment International, Volume 35, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 9-13.

Dioxin-like activity was measured in the serum of 1425 Flemish men and women via the CALUX assay. The adults, aged between 50 and 65 years. Within the context of this biomonitoring program also dietary intake of dioxin-like contaminants was assessed through a food frequency questionnaire. Both the logistic and linear model confirmed the contribution of dietary intake to the dioxin activity measured in serum. Also BMI and region were found to be associated with dioxin activity levels.


5. Maria Grazia Porpora, Emanuela Medda, Annalisa Abballe, Simone Bolli, Isabella De Angelis, Alessandro di Domenico, Annamaria Ferro, Anna Maria Ingelido, Antonella Maggi, Pierluigi Benedetti Panici, and Elena De Felip (2009). Endometriosis and Organochlorinated Environmental Pollutants: A Case–Control Study on Italian Women of Reproductive Age. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(7), July 2009. 1070-1075.

Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been hypothesized to play a role in the disease etiopathogenesis. We conducted a case–control study in Rome on 158 women comprising 80 cases and 78 controls. In all women, DR CALUX^® bioassay was employed to assess the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin toxicity equivalent (TEQ) concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and DL-PCBs. They found an increased risk of endometriosis for e.g. DL-PCB-118 and the sum of DL-PCBs and NDL-PCBs (OR = 5.63; 95% CI, 2.25–14.10). No significant associations were observed with respect to HCB or to the sum of PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL-PCBs given as total TEQs. The results of this study show that an association exists between increased PCB and p,p´-DDE serum concentrations and the risk of endometriosis.


6. Samantha Flannigan, Peter J O’Shaughnessy, Stewart M Rhind, Siladitya Bhattacharya, Paul A Fowler. Circulating sex hormone-binding globulin in the human fetus. Poster at the SRF 2009.

During human fetal development steroid hormones play a major role in sexual differentiation. These include 17β-oestradiol, testosterone and 5αdi-hydrotestosterone (DHT). These compounds are biologically active and are present in the circulation in two forms, either circulating freely, or bound to specific transport molecules. Neither gender nor maternal smoking status had an effect on the levels of oestrogenic activity. This conforms to the model for female development in which there is little steroidogenic activity. The increase in expression throughout gestation may be due in part to maternal oestrogen crossing the placenta. Female fetuses under 18 weeks of gestation having undetectable androgenic activity makes the stimulatory effect of maternal smoking a matter of concern. Androgenic activity increased across the second trimester in both sexes. This, and the inhibitory effect of maternal smoking on androgenic activity in male fetuses does not match the published data for male fetal testosterone concentrations. However, these data support evidence demonstrating adverse effects of maternal gestational smoking on fertility/fecundity in adult offspring.


7. MB Heringa, S van der Linden, M Schriks, B van der Burg and AP van Wezel (2009). Use of effect-directed assays in assessment the quality of drinking water and its sources. Techneau: Safe Drinking Water from Source to Tap. IWA Publishing. ISBN 1843392755.

Current monitoring programs for drinking water or its sources only measure a limited amount of often well-known chemicals. To detect all harmful compounds present, and also the effects in a complex mixture, in vitro effect-directed assays are a valuable addition. In this paper several relevant QA & QC criteria’s from existing biodetectors for hormone-like compounds are evaluated. The CALUX^® panel did show the highest sensitivity, robustness and lowest CV from all evaluated biotests. This paper describes also a few applications in drinking water and its sources and unravelling responsible compounds.