Xenoestrogen
Xenoestrogens are a type of xenohormone that imitates estrogen. They can be either synthetic or natural chemical compounds. Synthetic xenoestrogens include some widely used industrial compounds, such as PCBs, BPA, and phthalates, which have estrogenic effects on a living organism even though they differ chemically from the estrogenic substances produced internally by the endocrine system of any organism. Natural xenoestrogens include phytoestrogens which are plant-derived xenoestrogens. Because the primary route of exposure to these compounds is by consumption of phytoestrogenic plants, they are sometimes called "dietary estrogens". Mycoestrogens, estrogenic substances from fungi, are another type of xenoestrogen that are also considered mycotoxins.
Risk factors for breast cancer
The elevated incidence of breast cancer in women has been associated with prolonged exposure to high levels of estrogens. Xenoestrogens, such as BPA have the capacity to perturb normal hormonal actions. This study provides evidence of the estrogenic effects of BPA. In this study the human breast epithelial cells MCF-10F were treated with 10-3 M, 10-4 M, 10-5 M and 10-6 M BPA continuously for two weeks. The cells treated with 10-3 M BPA died on the second day of treatment. The concentration of 10-4 M BPA was also toxic for the breast epithelial cells, and they died on the fourth day of treatment. This data indicated that these concentrations of BPA are toxic for MCF-10F cells. After the two-week observation period it was seen that the cells formed a high percentage of duct like structures in collagen. MCF-10F cells treated with 10-5 M and 10-6 M BPA formed a high percentage of solid masses, 27% and 20% respectively. This data indicates that BPA is able to induce neoplastic transformation of human breast epithelial cells. Epigenetic changes are involved in the early stages of cancer initiation by altering ductulogenesis. BPA was able to induce transformation of human breast MCF-10F epithelial cells. After treatment with BPA, the cells produced fewer collagen tubules and more solid masses.