Estro-Androgenic\nDisrupting Effects of Halogenated\nDisinfection Byproducts: A Comprehensive Evaluation and Comparison

Drinking water halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs)\nhave\nbecome an increasing health concern. However, the endocrine-disrupting\neffects of DBPs have not been well evaluated, and the limited available\ndata have inhibited a comprehensive understanding of their health\nrisks. In this study, a total of 43 DBPs were evaluated for their\nestro-androgenic effects using two types of human breast cancer cells.\nAmong the tested DBPs, 16 exhibited estrogenic/antiestrogenic/androgenic/antiandrogenic\neffects, and the effects could be observed even at concentrations\ntypically detected in drinking water. Iodinated and polyhalogenated\nDBPs generally showed higher effects than other species. For a broader\ncomparison, DBP endocrine-disrupting effect data from this study and\nprevious studies were summarized. It was found that the endocrine\ndisruption efficacy of DBPs followed the rank order of iodinated >\nbrominated > chlorinated species, and halophenolic DBPs were potential\nendocrine-disrupting compounds. Moreover, molecular docking results\ndemonstrated that the binding of DBPs to estro-androgenic receptors\nwas dominated by hydrophobic bonding, hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding,\nand van der Waals forces. The force strength and molecular volume\nwere related to the magnitude of the estro-androgenic effects. Iodinated\nDBPs and polyhalogenated DBPs tended to have larger binding forces\nthan other analogues and thus exhibited stronger effects.