Health & Environment

Endocrine disruptors and the thyroid: further reading

Structure of thyroxine-like chemicals. Note the two aromatic rings and the positions of the halogen atoms.

In this month’s H&E, we took a first look at how man-made chemicals might be contributing to increasing rates of thyroid disease, drawing special attention to the structural similarities between many man-made molecules and the thyroid hormones.

What follows is a brief list of some of the literature on the subject, which those with a further interest in the issues might want to follow-up.

Diamanti-Kandarakis E et al,. Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement. Endocrine Reviews; 2009; 30(4):293-342.

Branchi I, Capone F, Alleva E, et al., Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers: Neurobehavioral Effects Following Developmental Exposure. NeuroToxicology, 2003; 24(3): 449-462.

Calafat, AM, X Ye, LY Wong et al., Urinary concentrations of triclosan in the U.S. population: 2003-2004. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2008; 116(3): 303-307.

Chen AY, Jemal A, Ward EM. Increasing incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer in the United States, 1988-2005.  Cancer, 2009; 115 (16), 3801–3807.

Environmental Working Group. 2008. Fire Retardants in Toddlers and Their Mothers.  http://www.ewg.org/book/export/html/26900

Crofton KM.  Developmental disruption of thyroid hormone: correlations with hearing dysfunction in rats. Risk Anal, 2004; 24:1665–1671.

Kitamura S, Jinno N, Ohta S, et al., Thyroid hormonal activity of the flame retardants tetrabromobisphenol A and tetrachlorobisphenol A. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2002; 293:554–559.

Leese GP, Flynn RV, Jung RT, MacDonald TM, Murphy MJ, Morris AD. Increasing prevalence and incidence of thyroid disease in Tayside, Scotland: the Thyroid Epidemiology Audit and Research Study (TEARS) Clinical Endocrinology, 2007; 68 (2):311-316.

Marsh G, Bergman A, Bladh L, et al., Synthesis of p-hydroxybromodiphnyl ethers and binding to the thyroid hormone receptor. Organohalogen Compounds, 1998; (37):305–308. [Not currently on-line.]

Newton, AP, SM Cadena, ME Rocha, et al. 2005. Effect of triclosan (TRN) on energy-linked functions of rat liver mitochondria. Toxicology Letters 160: 49-59.

Thomsen C, Lundanes E, Becher G.  Brominated flame retardants in archived serum samples from Norway: a study on temporal trends and the role of age. Environ Sci Technol, 2002; 36:1414–1418.

Turner JV. Aonovic-Kustrin S, Glass BD. Molecular aspects of phytoestrogen selective binding at estrogen receptors. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2007; 96(8): 1879-1885.

Veldhoena N, Skirrowb RC, Osachoffb H, et al., The bactericidal agent triclosan modulates thyroid hormone-associated gene expression and disrupts postembryonic anuran development. Aquatic Toxicology, 2006; 80(3), 217-227.