• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2010

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most common endocrine disrupters. In the last decade, the number of studies concerning the effects of chronic treatment with BPA on the development of the central nervous system (CNS) has increased. However, little is known about the effects of chronic exposure to BPA on higher brain functions such as memory or psychomotor functions. Here, we report our following findings: (1) Prenatal and neonatal exposure to BPA enhances psychostimulant-induced rewarding effects, results in the up- or downregulation of dopamine receptors, causes memory impairment, and decreases choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity. (2) BPA activates astrocytes in vivo and in vitro. These findings suggest that prenatal and neonatal exposure to BPA affects the development of the CNS.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.170-173
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• 2009

Vitellogenin (Vtg) is found in the serum of both female and male fish that have been exposed to environmental endocrine disrupters or estrogen hormones, and is used as a biomarker for such contamination. In our current study antibodies raised against the purified flatfish Vtg were tested for their reactivity on immunoblots to flatfish and carp Vtg, and also to a Vtg protein fragment produced in E. coli. Polyclonal antibodies raised against purified flatfish Vtg reacted well with Vtg in the serum of flatfish and carp induced with $17{\beta}$-estradiol, but not with the Vtg protein fragment produced in E. coli.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.282.1-282
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• 2000

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.31 no.5 s.86
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• pp.431-443
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• 2005

This study was performed to investigate the perceptions of the opinion leaders, such as government officials, researchers, NGO workers, and journalists on the risks of endocrine disrupters (EDs) and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as well as the related policies on these two hazards or potential hazards. The opinion leaders generally considered the EDs as the most serious hazard among twenty-one environmental health hazards in Korea, and agreed that the EDs would continuously be the most serious hazard. On overall average, the GMOs were ranked the 11th among the twenty-one health hazards. Further investigation indicated that the GMOs were variously ranked by the group of respondents: they were ranked the 2nd by the NGO workers, the 7th by the journalists, the 9th by the researchers and the 11th by the government officials. In general, the respondents considered the dioxin as a hazard with the highest risk while the GMOs were considered less hazardous. The opinion leaders considered that although the risks of the GMOs and EDs were not fully verified, the risks should be controlled through the legislation. The EDs and GMOs should be separately regulated for the time being, while the EDs should put under more strengthened regulation. It is recommended that a web-site containing the information on the EDs and the GMOs be prepared for the journalists. In addition, a training program in relation to the EDs and the GMOs needs to be organized by the Korean Press Foundation and the Korea Food and Drug Administration to educate the journalists. A committee consisting of government officials, scientists, and NGO workers needs to be established, and it should provide framework of future policies and public relations programs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.213-219
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• 2005

In this study, we try to Quantitatively assess the micropollutants in Gwangyang bay, Gamag bay and Yeoa bay, using simultaneous analytical method fir 310 chemicals. In the results, several dozen organic pollutants were detected in sampling sites, and the major chemicals detected were CH type chemicals, such as aliphatic and polycyclic compounds, and CHN(O) type chemicals, such as aromatic ammines and nitro compounds. The concentration of organic pollutants was higher in summer than in winter. However, there was no association of species of organic pollutants with season. The total concentration of pesticides at each sampling site was measured within the range of $ND{\sim}9.11{\mu}g/L$. Insecticides and fungicides of pesticide type were detected in Gwangyang bay and Gamag bay, while six kinds of endocrine disrupter were detected in southern coastal waters. From the results of this study, we should estimated that the insecticides, the fungicides, and a few of the endocrine disrupters are major pollutant factors in southern coastal waters.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.203-213
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• 2001

We investigated the toxic effects of propylthiouracil (PTU) In Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats to develop and validate an enhanced Protocol for Test Guideline 407 as OECD Project. Twenty male and female SD rats,7 weeks old, were treated with PTU in corn oil at levels of 0, 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks orally. Clinical observation, body weight changes, food uptake, water consumption, urinalysis, estrus cycle and sperm analysis, serum chemist교, autopsy findings and histopathological findings were evaluated in this study. No clinical signs and mortality were observed in the study. The body weights and food uptakes in the group treated with 10 mg/kg/day were reduced from 3 weeks after the initiation of the treatment. The levels of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4, 3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyrosine) were also significantly decreased in the group treated with 10 mg/kg/day. Also, the relative and absolute organ weights of thymuses were decreased. Thyroid glands of rats in the group treated with PTU 10 mg/kg/day were bigger than those of rats in the control group. In the histopathological examination, diffuse hyperplasia and hypertrophy of thyroid follicular cells were observed in all treatment groups, leading to the reduction of lumen size and papillary enfolding of lining epithelium. The degree of lesion was increased in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggested that PTU would cause toxicity in thyroid gland and decrease the levels of T3 and T4 in SD rats. However there were no effects on the other organ including testis and uterus especially in spermatogenesis and estrus cycle. On the basis of the results, enhanced protocol for Test Guideline (TG) 407 may be sensitive and reliable to detect endocrine-active substances like PTU.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.211-217
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• 2006

Heavy metals are well known as important environmental pollutants and also considered as endocrine disrupters. This study was performed to evaluate the direct effects of heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cobalt (Co), and arsenic (As) on the various steroidogenic enzymes in frog ovarian follicles. Ovarian follicles from Rana catesbeiana were isolated and cultured for 18 hours in the presence of frog pituitary homogenate (FPH, 0.05 gland/ml) or various steroid precursors with or without heavy metals (0.01-100 ${\mu}M$), and steroid levels in the follicle or culture medium were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Thus, the steroidogenic enzyme activities were indirectly evaluated by measuring the converted steroid levels from the added precursor steroid. Among heavy metals, Hg, Cd and Zn significantly inhibited FPH-induced pregnenolone ($P_5$) production by the follicles ($EC_{50},\;4.0{\mu}M,\;25.6{\mu}M\;and\;5.7{\mu}M$, respectively ), and also suppressed the conversion of testosterone (T) to estradiol $17{beta}\;(E_2)\;(EC_{50},\;4.2{\mu}M,\;7.5{\mu}M\;and\;80.0{\mu}M) while Pb, Co and As are not or less effective in the inhibition. Other enzymes such as $C_{17-20}$ lyase and $17{\beta}$-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase ($17{\beta}$-HSD) were suppressed only in the high concentration of Hg, Cd and Zn. Taken together, these data demonstrate that cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage (P450scc) and aromatase are much more sensitive to heavy metals than other steroidogenic enzymes and Hg, Cd and Zn show stronger toxicity to follicles than other heavy metals examined.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2005

As a number of potential endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are released into the environment, recently growing attention has been drawn to them. Therefore sensitive and reliable analytical methods are essential to monitor those compounds. In this study, complementary CC-MS and LC-MS were employed to analyze the endocrine disrupters, and the results of two methods were compared for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), benzylbutylphthalate (BBP), pentachlorophenol (PCP), and 4,4'-Isopropylidenediphenol (Bisphenol-A, or BPA). The results indicate that it was possible to lower the detection limits of EDCs by LC-MS. Also, LC-MS enabled to identify the EDCs as almost intact molecules. Furthermore, this study presented a nanofiltration membrane (MWCO 250) and a ultrafiltration membrane (MWCO 1,000) filtration system as methods far removing EDCs from drinking water containing $\gamma$-BHC, p,p'-DDE, BBP, p,p'-DDT, DEHP, PCP, and BPA. Cross-flow type nanofiltrations showed $100\%$ removal of EDCs, and the result implies that MWCO 250 nanofilter was sufficient for treatment of EDCs. The ratio of permeate flux to mass transfer coefficient of nanofiltration, high flux ultrafiltration, and low flux ultrafiltration with ultrapure water were 0.67, 3.4, and 0.44, respectively. It was found that nanofiltration and low flux ultrafiltration were operated at a diffusion dominant condition, and the high flux ultrafiltration was operated at a convection dominant condition. Furthermore, a diffusion dominant process attained reasonable rejection of EDCs. The removal in the ultrafiltration was depending on the molecular weight of an EDC, and the filtration was governed by diffusion-dominant hydrodynamic conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1332-1339
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to the distributive property of organic pollutants in effluents of domestic sewage treatment plants around Youngsan River using simultaneous analysis method of 310 chemicals. The numerous organic pollutants were detected in five sampling sites, and the major chemicals were pesticides, CH type chemicals such as benzenes and polycyclic compounds, ande CHO type chemicals such as phenols and phthalates. About 14 pesticides were detected in the effluent and most of them were found in summer. 1-Chlorobenzen and p-octylphenol were frequently detected in the concentration range of $0.52{\sim}0.61\;{\mu}g/L$ and $0.04{\sim}0.89\;{\mu}g/L$, respectively. Moreover, 18 kinds of endocrine disrupters include diethylphthalate were detected in effluents. From the results of this study, therefore, we confirmed that the pesticides, CH and CHO type chemicals in domestic effluents throughout Youngsan River are required specific regulation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.438-446
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate food safety awareness, knowledge, and behavior in college students, to provide basic data for the increase in food safety awareness. Data were collected from 252 college students in Gyeonggi region, using a self-administered questionnaire. In results of concern about food safety, subjects responded 3.48 of 5.00 and have knowledge about food safety education revealing significantly higher awareness and concern than subjects without knowledge about food safety education. Food safety awareness of distributed food was 2.55, considered unsafe. Among reasons in perceiving food as unsafe, 62.3% of subjects expressed distrust about safety relative food production. As for risk factors relative to food safety, subjects responded that the highest risk factor was food additives (2.35), followed by heavy metal (2.38) and endocrine disrupters (2.38). Correlation analysis resulting in risk factors for food had positive correlation with each other, heavy metal revealed highest correlation with pesticide residue (r = 0.674), than with endocrine disrupters (r = 0.672). Also, genetically modified food revealed high correlation with radiation irradiated food. Regression analysis demonstrated that concern about food safety significantly influenced pro-actively engaging in food safety education. Meanwhile, 63.5% of subjects correctly responded to food safety knowledge items. The item 'the heavy metals are contaminated the most, in the roots of vegetables' revealed the lowest correct answer rate (38.1%). In food safety behavior, the item 'always wash hands before handling food and meal's revealed 3.85, and subjects with awareness and concern about food safety education, responded in significantly higher numbers than subject without awareness and concern about food safety. The most neglected concern was relative to frozen food thawed at room temperature. Together, students recognize that distributed foods are unsafe, and students with awareness and concern about food safety education showed higher knowledge compared to without awareness and concern experience about food safety eduction. So, systematic education using accurate and objective data is required to reduce anxiety and raise the level of awareness and concern about food safety.