Bioelectrochemical Detection of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds

Endocrine disrupting compounds are ubiquitous, originating from pesticides, plasticizers, and pharmaceuticals, among other sources. Though the full impact of these compounds has not been fully elucidated, they are implicated in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. The list of chemicals that disrupt normal hormone function is growing at an alarming rate, making it crucial to identify sources of contamination and new compounds that display this ability. We have developed new detection strategy for endocrine disrupting compounds that is both fast and portable. This method requires no specialized skills to perform based on a native estrogen receptor construct. Rather than responding to individual components, this system reports the total estrogenic activity of a sample using the most relevant biological receptor. This approach should be broadly applicable to the detection of chemically dissimilar classes of compounds that bind to a single receptor.