chemical Class

Alkylphenols


Chemicals in the class:

4-tert-Octylphenol, Nonylphenol

Found in these people:

Anonymous Adult 16, Anonymous Adult 18, Michael Lerner, Sharyle Patton, Charlotte Brody

Found in these locations:

San Francisco, CA; Alamo, CA; Bolinas, CA; Round Hill, VA


Summary

Alkylphenols are widely used industrial chemicals that act as detergents or surfactants. They are added to cosmetics, paints, pesticides, detergents and cleaning products. As a group they are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Dozens of recent studies have documented the in-vitro and in-vivo estrogenic activity of alkylphenols in human cell lines and animals (Bechi 2006). Alkylphenols have been detected recently in surface waters contaminated with urban runoff and in wastewater effluent (Espejo 2002; Oros 2003).

Alkylphenols have been measured in air samples. One study found that newer homes, especially those with PVC materials, have more alkylphenol residues than older houses or outdoor air (Saito 2004).




Alkylphenols

Alkylphenols are widely used industrial chemicals that act as detergents or surfactants. They are added to cosmetics, paints, pesticides, detergents and cleaning products. They are highly toxic to aquatic organisms, and endocrine disruptors in laboratory tests.

Alkylphenols has been found in 5 of the 28 people tested in EWG/Commonweal studies.

Top health concerns for Alkylphenols (References)

health concern or target organ weight of evidence
Endocrine systemlimited

Toxicity Classifications (References)

classification governing entity/references
Endocrine disruptor - suspected or limited evidenceBechi, N. (2006). "Estrogen-like response to p-nonylphenol in human first trimester placenta and BeWo choriocarcinoma cells." Toxicol Sci 93(1): 6., Diel P., Olff S., Schmidt S., Michna H. (2002). "Effects of the environmental estrogens bisphenol A, o,p'-DDT, p-tert-octylphenol and coumestrol on apoptosis induction, cell proliferation and the expression of estrogen sensitive molecular parameters in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7." J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 80(1): 10.