Androgenic and Teratogenic Effects of Iodoacetic Acid Drinking Water Disinfection Byproduct in Vitro and in Vivo

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c06620
• Publication Date: 2021-03-01T20:52:47Z
• Authors: Kunling Long; Yujie Sha; Yan Mo; Shumao Wei; Huan Wu; Du Lu; Ying Xia; Qiyuan Yang; Weiwei Zheng; Xiao Wei
• Keywords: Male; Drinking Water; Organ Size; 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water; Iodoacetic Acid; Rats; 3. Good health; Disinfection; Testis; Androgens; Animals; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Iodoacetic acid (IAA) is the most genotoxic iodinated disinfection byproduct known in drinking water. Previous studies have shown that IAA may be an endocrine disruptor. However, whether IAA has reproductive and developmental toxicity remains unclear. In this study, the reproductive and developmental toxicity of IAA was evaluated using a battery of in vitro and in vivo reproductive/developmental toxicity screening tests. The results of E-Screen, uterotrophic, and H295R steroidogenesis assays were negative. The Hershberger bioassay revealed that IAA could induce significant increases in absolute and relative weights of paired Cowper's glands. Moreover, there was an increasing trend in the relative weights of the ventral prostate. The micromass test showed that IAA could inhibit the differentiation of midbrain and limb bud cells. A reproductive/developmental toxicity screening test showed that IAA resulted in significantly increased relative weights of testis and seminal vesicles plus coagulating glands in parental male rats, with a dose-response relationship. IAA could not only induce head congestion in offspring but also decrease litter weight, viability index, and anogenital distance index of male pups on postnatal day 4. All these results indicated that IAA had reproductive and developmental toxicity.