5. Concluding remarks
This study was designed to demonstrate the biological effects of BPA, one of the well-known endocrine disruptors, by means of the Tradescantia micronucleus assay. The biological effect of gamma rays on the same cell system was also evaluated for comparison with that of BPA to estimate the equidosimetric effectiveness of BPA. Fresh cuttings of Tradescantia BNL 4430 were treated with BPA solutions of 0 to 4 mM for 6 hours for the absorption of the solution through the stem of the plant cuttings. Other groups of the cuttings were irradiated with 0 to 1.0 Gy of gamma rays. The frequencies of micronucleus showed a positive dose-response relationship in the range of 0 to 0.5 Gy, and a clear concentration-response relationship in the experimental range of BPA concentrations. By comparing the two experimental results, it is possible to estimate the BPA concentration and its equivalent radiation dose for a fixed value of MCN frequency. BPA of 11.8 mM can give rise to 53.3 MCN/100 tetrads, the same frequency that is induced by 25 cGy of gamma rays. It is of biological importance that clinical symptoms start to develop after a whole body exposure to radiation higher than 25 cGy. The results indicated that the pollen mother cells were an excellent biological end-point for measuring toxicity of endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A. In addition, Trad-MCN assay can be easily applied to measure the biological effects of suspected endocrine disruptors such as octylphenol and nonylphenol.
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Kim, J.K., Shin, H.S., Lee, JH., Petin, V.G. (2005). Comparative Study of the Effects of Endocrine Disruptor and Ionizing Radiation with Plant Bioassay. In: Bréchignac, F., Desmet, G. (eds) Equidosimetry — Ecological Standardization and Equidosimetry for Radioecology and Environmental Ecology. NATO Security through Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3650-7_27
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