Search

Alkylphenols are common aquatic pollutants originating from industrial use of the compounds themselves or as biodegradation products of alkylphenol polyethoxylates. The cytotoxicity of a range of alkylphenols and alkylated non-phenolics were assessed in a primary culture of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) hepatocytes to construct a structure-toxicity relationship for this group of ubiquitous aquatic pollutants. Metabolic inhibition and loss of membrane integrity were used as cytotoxic endpoints through use of the cellular markers Alamar blue and 5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate acetoxymethyl ester, respectively. The results show that cytotoxicity increased with the hydrophobicity of the alkylphenols for compounds with logK(OW)4.9. Normal chained alkylphenols, branched alkylphenols and multi-substituted alkylphenols with logK(OW)4.9 deviated clearly from this relationship. The alkylphenols displayed greater cytotoxicity than alkylated non-phenolics and it is proposed that most alkylated non-phenolic caused non-polar narcosis (baseline toxicity) whereas the alkylphenols caused polar narcosis. Observations that metabolic inhibition occurred at lower concentrations than loss of membrane integrity for most chemicals indicated that interference with cellular metabolic functions was the main cause of cytotoxicity. Metabolic inhibition corresponded better than loss of membrane integrity to reported acute toxicity to fish, although the in vivo acute toxicity of hydrophobic compounds (logK(OW)2-3) was clearly underestimated by both endpoints.

Alkylphenols act as estrogen mimics by binding to and transactivating estrogen receptors (ERs) in fish. In the present study, activation of ER-mediated production of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin (vtg) in a primary culture of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatocytes was used to construct a structure–activity relationship for this ubiquitous group of aquatic pollutants. The role of alkyl chain length and branching, substituent position, number of alkylated groups, and the requirement of a phenolic ring structure was assessed. The results showed that most alkylphenols were estrogenic, although with 3–300 thousand times lower affinity than the endogenous estrogen 17β-estradiol. Mono-substituted tertiary alkylphenols with moderate (C4–C5) and long alkyl chain length (C8–C9) in the para position exhibited the highest estrogenic potency. Substitution with multiple alkyl groups, presence of substituents in the ortho- and meta-position and lack of a hydroxyl group on the benzene ring reduced the estrogenic activity, although several estrogenic alkylated non-phenolics were identified. Co-exposures with the natural estrogen 17β-estradiol led to identification of additional estrogenic compounds as well as some anti-estrogens. A combination of low affinity for the ER and cytotoxicity was identified as factors rendering some of the alkylphenols non-estrogenic in the bioassay when tested alone.