Evidence of Endocrine Disruption in Invertebrates

The effects of cadmium may be modulated by environmental factors, including salinity and the presence of other compounds. The synergistic inhibition of limb regeneration in the hermit crab Uca pugilator caused by combinations of cadmium and methylmerciiry is only evident in water of high salinity.  

Many pesticides cause endocrine disruption in vertebrate and invertebrate species at concentrations that are not overtly metabolically toxic. The insect growth inhibitor diflubenzuron can affect the reproduction, development and behaviour of estuarine crustaceans at concentrations of just lOmgP (reviewed 

Koolinan and K. D. Spindler in Endocrinology of the Insects, ed. R. Downer and H. Laufer, Liss, 

Voogt and D. Zandee, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. C, 1990, 90, 341. 

The mechanism by which TBT causes these effects has been extensively stiidied. The androgenic effects of TBT appear to be caused by interference with steroid biosynthesis rather than by mimicking the action of testosterone at the androgen receptor. Exposure of female molluscs to TBT leads to an elevation in testosterone in the haemolymph. Much of the experimental evidence 

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