A poluição atmosférica já é considerada um caso de saúde pública nos grandes centros urbanos. Freqüentemente as emissões veiculares são as principais causas dessa poluição, principalmente as provenientes dos motores diesel, os quais, além da produção de material particulado (MP), em cuja superfície são adsorvidas substâncias carcinogênicas e mutagênicas, produzem poluentes como os hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos (HPAs). Contudo não existe uma avaliação direta dos riscos dessas emissões nos seres vivos. Plantas bioindicadoras podem dar idéia desses riscos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o potencial de risco mutagênico da exaustão proveniente de um motor diesel, utilizando o bioensaio Trad-SH (clone KU-20) como bioindicador da poluição do ar. Nos experimentos, a exaustão do motor diesel aspirado de 2.0 L de deslocamento volumétrico foi diluído com ar atmosférico de modo a atingir concentrações de uma atmosfera pesadamente poluída (aproximadamente 50, 100 e 150 ppm de CO). Obtidos estes níveis de diluição, as inflorescências foram expostas a esta mistura de poluentes por duas horas (doses agudas). A concentração de CO foi monitorada continuamente por meio de um analisador de gases Horiba Enda utilizando o princípio de absorção seletiva no infravermelho. Para se avaliar o efeito mutagênico foi feita uma comparação entre as inflorescências não expostas aos poluentes (grupo 1) e as inflorescências expostas (grupos 2, 3 e 4) com aproximadamente 50, 100 e 150 ppm de CO respectivamente. Os dados obtidos foram analisados estatisticamente observando-se que, a freqüência média das mutações no grupo 1 (controle), foi significativamente mais baixa do que aquela dos grupos 3 e 4, porém foi similar à do grupo 2. Por sua vez, não houve diferenças significativas nas freqüências de mutações entre os grupos 3 e 4. Os resultados indicam que a exaustão do motor a diesel teve um papel significativo no desenvolvimento de mutações, mas somente quando diluída para concentrações de CO acima de 100 ppm. / Air pollution caused by vehicle emission has been considered as a major public health concern in the urban centers. Emission from diesel engine powered vehicles, in particular, are highly toxic, since carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds can adsorb on the expelled particles leading to the formation of the so-called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH\'s). A detailed investigation on the risks of those compounds on the living beings using the methodology applied in the work has not been carried out so far. This work is aimed at evaluating the mutagenic potential of the emission from a diesel engine using the Tradescantia stamen hair assay (TSH), by monitoring the stamen hair mutation in the clone KU-20. Experimentally, the inflorescence of the KU-20 clones was kept for 2 h under a simulated urban heavily polluted atmosphere, obtained by mixing the emission from a diesel engine and atmospheric air. The CO concentration in the atmosphere was monitored using a Horiba-Enda gas analyzer. The mutagenic effects of the atmosphere were analyzed by comparing a group of non-exposed control inflorescence (group 1) to inflorescences kept under polluted atmospheres containing 50, 100 and 150 ppm of CO, assigned to as groups 2, 3 and 4. The experimental data were analyzed using statistical methods. The frequency of mutations observed in the inflorescences from group 2 was slightly higher than that observed in the group 1. In the groups 3 and 4, however, the frequency of mutations was significantly higher than that exhibited by the control group. The latter suggests that the emission from a diesel engine plays an important role in the development of plants mutation, specially for atmospheres containing more than 100 ppm of CO.

Chez les vertébrés, la progestérone (P4) est un progestatif endogène agissant via les récepteurs nucléaires et membranaires de la progestérone pour médier des processus clés du développement et de la reproduction. De nombreuses molécules sont conçues pour mimer l’action de la P4. Ces progestatifs synthétiques et la P4 sont très utilisés en tant que substances pharmaceutiques et certains sont retrouvées dans l’environnement aquatique, posant un risque pour les organismes. Cependant, les informations sont insuffisantes pour évaluer les dangers et les risques de ces substances pour l’environnement. Dans ce travail de thèse, les mécanismes d’action et les effets biologiques des progestatifs sur le poisson zèbre ont été étudiés grâce à une combinaison d’outils in vitro et in vivo de type gène-rapporteur basés sur le mécanisme d’action des perturbateurs endocriniens. Nous avons caractérisé le profil toxicologique complexe de 26 progestatifs vis-à-vis de différents récepteurs nucléaires stéroïdiens humain et poisson zèbre et vis-à-vis de l’expression tissu-spécifique de gènes de la stéroïdogenèse (cyp19a1b dans le cerveau et cyp11c1 dans les interrénales). Nos résultats montrent que certains progestatifs peuvent perturber différentes voies de signalisation chez les larves en développement au niveau moléculaire, cellulaire et tissulaire ainsi qu’au niveau physiologique. Dans l’ensemble, les résultats de cette thèse permettent une meilleure caractérisation des dangers des progestatifs sur différentes cibles endocriniennes. / Among vertebrates, progesterone (P4) is an endogenous progestin acting through the nuclear and molecular progesterone receptor to mediate key processes of development and reproduction. Many molecules are designed to mimic the action of P4. These synthetic progestins and P4 are widely used as pharmaceuticals and some of them are found in this aquatic environment, thus posing risks to aquatic species. However, information is lacking to evaluate the dangers and risks of these substances for the environment. This thesis studied the mechanisms of action and the effects of progestins on zebrafish, using a combination of reporter-gene in vitro and in vivo tools based on the mechanism of action of endocrine disruptors. We characterized the toxicological profile of 26 progestins towards different human and zebrafish nuclear steroid receptors and towards the tissue-specific expression of steroidogenic genes (cyp19a1b in the brain and cyp11c1 in the interrenal cells). Our results show that some progestins can disrupt different signaling pathways in developing larvae at the molecular level, cellular and tissular level, and physiological level. Overall, the results of this thesis allow for a better characterization of the dangers of progestins on several endocrine targets.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / hans, and is secreted into the bloodstream. It plays and important role in regulating the metabolic activities of the body, particularly the homeostasis of the blood glucose. Insulin glargine is a recombinant human insulin analogue produced by DNA technology using a strain of Escherichia coli and the insulin glargine differ only by three amino acids from human insulin. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) and size exclusion liquid chromatography (SE-LC) methods were developed and validated for the assessment of insulin glargine in biopharmaceutical formulations. A RP-LC method was carried out on a Jupiter C4 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d.), maintained at 30 ºC. The mobile phase A consisted of 0.05 M sodium sulphate buffer, pH 2.5, and the mobile phase B was acetonitrile. The SE-LC method was carried out on a BioSep-SEC-S 2000 column (300 mm x 7.8 mm i.d.), maintained at 25 ºC. The mobile phase consisted of 0.03 M MES acid buffer, pH 2.5, run isocratically at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. Chromatographic separation was obtained with retention times of 7.5 min, and 9.9 min, and was linear over the concentration range of 0.05 - 200 μg/mL (R2 = 0.9998) and 0.02 - 180 μg/mL (R2 = 0.9999), respectively, for RP-LC and SE-LC, with photodiode array (PDA) detection at 214 nm and 200 nm for RP-LC and SE-LC methods, respectively. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.018 and 0.054 μg/mL, respectively, for the RP-LC and 0.009 and 0.027 μg/mL, for the SE-LC. Specificity was established in degradation studies, which also showed that there was no interference of the excipients. Equally, the accuracy was 100.13% and 99.38%, with bias lower than 0.85% and than 0.86%. The validated methods were applied for the determination of insulin glargine and related proteins and high molecular mass, in biotechnology-derived products, giving lower mean differences of the estimated content/potencies of 0.21% and 0.16% for the RP-LC and SE-LC related, compared to the in vitro cell culture assay. It is concluded that represents a contribution to establish alternatives to monitor stability, quality control and thereby assure therapeutic efficacy of the biotechnology-derived medicine. / A insulina humana é um hormônio secretado pelas células β, das ilhotas de Langerhans, e regula os níveis sanguíneos de glicose. A insulina glargina é produzida pela tecnologia do DNA recombinante, expressa em Escherichia coli, e difere da insulina humana pela modificação da aspargina na posição 21 da cadeia A por uma glicina, além da adição de dois resíduos de arginina C-terminais na cadeia B. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos e validados métodos por cromatografia líquida em fase reversa (CL-FR) e por exclusão molecular (CL-EM) para a avaliação de insulina glargina em formulações biofarmacêuticas. No método por CL-FR, foi utilizada coluna Júpiter C4 (250 mm x 4,6 mm d.i.), mantida a 30 ºC. A fase móvel A foi constituída por tampão sulfato de sódio 0,05 M, pH 2,5, e a fase móvel B por acetonitrila, eluídas com fluxo constante de 0,5 mL/min. No método por CL-EM foi utilizada coluna BioSep-SEC-S 2000 (300 mm x 7.8 mm d.i.), mantida a 25 ºC. A fase móvel foi constituída de tampão MES 0,03 M, pH 2,5, eluída em vazão isocrática de 0,6 mL/min. Para ambos os métodos utilizou-se detector de arranjo de diodos (DAD) com detecções em 214 nm e 200 nm para CL-FR e CL-EM, respectivamente. A separação cromatográfica foi obtida nos tempos de 7,5 e 9,9 min, sendo linear na faixa de concentração de 0,05 - 200 μg/mL (R2 = 0,9998) e 0,02 - 180 μg/mL (R2 = 0,9999), respectivamente, para os métodos por CL-FR e CL-EM. Os limites de detecção e quantificação foram 0,018 e 0,054 μg/mL, respectivamente, para o método por CL-FR e 0,009 e 0,027 μg/mL por CL-EM. A especificidade foi avaliada em estudos de degradação, que também demonstraram que não houve interferência dos excipientes. A exatidão foi 100,13 e 99,38%, com bias inferior a 0,85 e 0,86%, respectivamente, para os métodos por CL-FR e CL-EM. Os métodos propostos foram aplicados para avaliação da potência de insulina glargina, de proteínas relacionadas agregados de alta massa molecular em formulações biofarmacêuticas, e os resultados foram comparados com o bioensaio por cultura de células in vitro, observando-se diferenças das médias de teor/potência 0,21% e 0,16% inferiores para os métodos por CL-FR e CL-EM. Concluí-se que representa contribuição para estabelecer procedimentos para monitorar a estabilidade, o controle da qualidade, garantindo a segurança e eficácia terapêutica do produto biotecnológico.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Human interferon-α2a (hIFN-α2a) is a natural protein produced by the cells of the immune system with antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory properties. A size exclusion liquid chromatography (SE-LC) method was validated for the determination of recombinant interferon-α2a (rhIFN-α2a) in pharmaceutical formulations without human serum albumin. The SE-LC method was carried out on a BioSep-SEC-S 2000 column (300 mm x 7.8 mm i.d.) maintained at 25°C. The mobile phase consisted of 0.001 M monobasic potassium phosphate, 0.008 M sodium phosphate dibasic and 0.2 M sodium chloride buffer, pH 7.4, run at a gradiente flow rate and using photodiode array (PDA) detection at 214 nm. The chromatographic separation was achieved with retention time of 17.2 min, and was linear over the concentration range of 0.5-50 MUI/mL (r2 = 0.9996). The accuracy was 101.39% with bias lower than 1.67%. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.22 and 0.5 MIU/mL, respectively, and the method validation demonstrated acceptable results for precision and robustness. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of rhIFN-α2a in pharmaceutical dosage forms, and the content/potencies correlated to the previously validated reversed-phase (RP-LC), and the in vitro bioassay. The pharmaceutical samples were analyzed by the chromatographic methods and compared to the bioassay, showing mean differences between the estimated potency of 1.50% higher for SE-LC, and 2.45% lower for the RP-LC. The alternative methods studies contribute to improve the quality control, assuring the therapeutic efficacy of the biological medicine. Moreover, the pharmacokinetic parameters of the formulations A and B were evaluated by subcutaneous injection in rats, showing comparable profiles with Cmax of 7924.60 and 8698.68 pg/mL, respectively, and Tmax= 60 min. / O interferon-α2a humano (hIFN-α2a) é uma proteína produzida pelas células do sistema imune com propriedades imunomoduladora, antiviral e antiproliferativa. No presente trabalho, foi validado método por cromatografia líquida por exclusão molecular (CL-EM), para determinação de interferon-α2a recombinante (rhIFN-α2a) em formulações farmacêuticas sem albumina. O método CL-EM foi validado empregando coluna BioSep-SEC-2000 S (300 mm x 7,8 mm d.i.) mantida a temperatura de 25°C. A fase móvel foi composta de tampão fosfato de potássio monobásico 0,001 M, fosfato de sódio dibásico 0,008 M e cloreto de sódio 0,2 M, pH 7,4, eluída em gradiente de fluxo e utilizando arranjo de diodos (DAD) com detecção em 214 nm. A separação cromatográfica foi alcançada com o tempo de retenção de 17,2 min e o método foi linear no intervalo de concentração de 0,5-50 MUI/mL (r2 = 0,9996). A exatidão média foi de 101,39%, com erro calculado inferior a 1,67%. Os limites de detecção e quantificação foram de 0,22 e 0,5 MUI/mL, respectivamente e a validação demonstrou parâmetros aceitáveis de precisão e robustez. O método proposto foi aplicado para análise de formulação farmacêutica de rhINF-α2a e os teores/potências correlacionados com aqueles fornecidos pelos métodos previamente validados por CL-FR e bioensaio in vitro. Estabeleceu-se correlação entre os métodos, demonstrando que os biofármacos comerciais apresentaram diferenças entre as médias 1,5% maiores para o CL-EM, e 2,45% menores para CL-FR, em relação ao bioensaio. Assim, contribuiu-se para estabelecer alternativas que aprimoram o controle de qualidade, assegurando a eficácia terapêutica do produto biológico. Além disso, avaliaram-se os parâmetros farmacocinéticos das formulações A e B após injeção subcutânea em ratos, demonstrando perfis comparáveis com Cmax de 7924,60 e 8698,68 pg/mL, respectivamente, e Tmax= 60 min.

M.Sc. (Aquatic Health) / Sediments can contain a variety of organic and inorganic contaminants. These contaminants accumulate, resulting in extremely high concentrations even once the overlying water concentrations are at or below acceptable water quality guidelines. Any changes in the physical parameters of the overlying water can cause these pollutants to be released back into solution. Accumulated contaminants can be released at even higher concentrations than previously detected. In recent years, sediment contamination has highlighted the need to monitor these previously overlooked pollutant sources that have accumulated in aquatic ecosystems. South Africa does not currently have standardised methods to assess sediment toxicity. Although international methods exist, they are largely untested in South Africa and the organisms needed to conduct these tests are not readily available. Over the years numerous culture methods have been develop globally for culturing organism to be used for water and sediment toxicity tests. In South Africa, the focus has mainly been on culturing organisms for water toxicity testing. Sediment toxicity testing with indigenous organism however, was not developed. Established international culture methods from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Environment Canada were taken into consideration when developing the laboratory culture method for two(2) of the selected organisms (Chironomus spp. & Hydra sp.) from this study. A preliminary culture method was also developed for the third selected organism, Melanoides tuberculata (gastropod). The organisms cultured in this study were selected based on their extent of contact with the substrate, ease of handling, availability, culture maintenance as well as their reproductive cycle. The Hydra, Chironomids and M. tuberculata cultures were successfully breeding under laboratory conditions and remained stable. The Chironomus sp. and M. tuberculata maintain contact with the sediment making them suitable as ecologically relevant organisms for use in whole sediment toxicity testing in South Africa.

Ce travail de thèse a concerné l’évaluation des impacts écotoxicologiques de rejetsindustriels complexes issus de la filière du traitement de surface et de solutionssynthétiques mono- et polycontaminées sur la laitue Lactuca sativa L. Il est ainsimontré que les résultats des tests écotoxicologiques de germination des semences delaitue reflètent la variabilité de la composition chimique des rejets et de leuramélioration après traitement d’abattement de la charge métallique et/ou organique.Ces tests ont également permis de classer selon leur toxicité croissante certains ETM(Fe, Cr, Co, Cu, B, Al, F, Ni, Cd, Ag, Zn, Sn) et quelques molécules organiques (4NP,NAP, DBP, NP9). En revanche, quelle que soit la qualité chimique du rejet testé, lestaux de germination des semences et les élongations des plantules (principalement leslongueurs racinaires) dépendent de la variété de laitue choisie pour le test. Cetteobservation s’applique aussi aux solutions synthétiques métalliques monocontaminées.Ainsi, pour un même rejet, la Batavia dorée de printemps apparait plus résistante auxpolluants que la Kinemontepas et la Grosse Blonde Paresseuse, et que l’Appia (CE50estimées respectivement à ~99, 59, 43 et 25 %). Ces différences intraspécifiquess’observent également pour la composition interne et les tendances d’enrichissement encertains nutriments et ETM, malgré la présence de Cd dans le péricarpe de semences“vierges”. / This thesis has explored the surface treatment DW and mono- and polycontaminatedsynthetic solution ecotoxicological impact assessment on lettuce Lactuca sativa L.Ecotoxicological seed germination bioassays reflect the DW chemical variability, theirchemical improvement after metallic and/or organic abatement, and also permit toclassify MTE (Fe, Cr, Co, Cu, B, Al, F, Ni, Cd, Ag, Zn, Sn) and POP (4NP, NAP,DBP, NP9) according to their increasing ecotoxicity. However, whatever the DWchemical quality, seeds germination rates and plantlets elongations (mainly rootelongations) depend on lettuce variety’s choice. It is also true for monometallicsolutions. Thus for the same DW sample, the Batavia dorée de printemps varietyappears to be more resistant to pollutant than the Kinemontepas and the GrosseBlonde Paresseuse varieties, and than the Appia variety (estimated EC50 respectively99, 59, 43 and 25 %). Despite the presence of Cd in virgin pericarp seeds, intraspecificdifferences occured as well when analyzing the inner plantlet compositions and thenutrients and MTE uptake patterns.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The high rate of rediscovery of known compounds has led to a decline in the discovery of novel natural products. The high biodiversity of organisms growing in extreme conditions such as oceans has led to the increased interest by researchers for their use as a source of novel natural products. Marine bacteria are known for their extensive biosynthetic capacity to produce diverse natural products, which are suitable for various biotechnology applications such as in agriculture, for treatment of fungal plant pathogens, and as antibiotics, for treatment of bacterial infections. This study aimed at discovering novel secondary metabolites from marine bacteria previously associated with novel marine invertebrate species endemic to the South African coast. The methodologies used in this study included a bioassay guided fractionation coupled to genome sequencing and mining. For the bioassay guided fractionation approach, the study first focused on screening marine bacteria for antimicrobial activity when cultured on 4 different media, against fungal strains previously shown to be virulent olive trunk pathogens. In parallel, the bacterial isolates with the most inhibitory activity against the fungal pathogens were also screened for antimicrobial activity against 4 indicator strains including Gram-negative Escherichia coli 1699 (E. coli), Pseudomonas putida, and Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC14990, and Bacillus cereus ATCC10702. One of the marine bacterial isolates, PE6-126, showed diverse antimicrobial activity including antibacterial and antifungal activity against the tested strains. The genome sequencing data revealed that this isolate was B. cereus based on the average nucleotide identity (ANI) (>99%) to reference strains. antiSMASH analysis of the genome revealed nine predicted secondary metabolite clusters including bacteriocins (2), non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) (2), siderophore (1), sactipeptide (1), betalactone (1), linear azol(in)e-containing peptides (LAP) - bacteriocin (1) and a terpene (1). Some of these pathways had low to no sequence similarity to known pathways, indicating the potential of these pathways to produce novel compounds. One of the pathways showed very high sequence similarity to the thuricin CD pathway in Bacillus thuringiensis. Considering that thuricin CD has been reported to have antimicrobial activity against B. cereus (ATCC1072), it was hypothesised that it could also be produced by PE6-126. However, the antimicrobial extract from PE6-126 was tested for sensitivity to proteinase K and heat treatment, which thuricin CD is known to be sensitive to. The results revealed that the antimicrobial activity was not lost after treatment, implying that a different metabolite could be responsible for the anti-B. cereus activity. In addition, PE6-126 initially displayed antimicrobial activity against a multi-drug resistant E. coli 1699, suggesting some of the antimicrobial compound/(s) produced by this strain could potentially be novel. The bioassay-guided fractionation approach coupled to Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) did not lead to identification of the antimicrobial compound/(s), therefore it remains a question whether the secondary metabolite pathways predicted by antiSMASH lead to the production of the active compound/(s). The results from this study showed that even well studied species have the potential to synthesize as yet undescribed compounds, based on the novelty of some of the pathways. This study highlights the importance of employing a genome-guided approach in drug discovery, as there may be many novel compounds to discover from biosynthetic pathways that have not yet been characterised. Further research is needed to identify the antimicrobial compound/(s) produced by PE6-126.

Magister Scientiae (Medical Bioscience) - MSc(MBS) / Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are exogenous compounds/chemicals in the environment that interfere with the synthesis, secretion, distribution and function or elimination of natural hormones in the body. Environmental estrogens are a subclass of EDCs that may mimic or inhibit the effect of endogenous estrogen and can therefore influence developmental and reproductive health in humans and animals. EDCs have been reported to adversely affect the reproductive, immune, endocrine and nervous systems of wildlife and humans. The effects of EDCs include gonadal abnormalities, altered male/female sex ratios, reduced fertility and cancers of the male and female reproductive tract to mention a few. These effects are difficult to detect. Although it is essential to screen for EDCs in aqueous environmental samples, most countries have failed to implement this as part of their routine water quality monitoring programs due to various constraints such as the high cost of assays and the lack of infrastructure and skills required to do the assays. Therefore, there is a clear need for more user-friendly, more economically viable and time saving assays that can be used for routine monitoring of environmental EDCs. The aim of this study was to investigate the comparison between chemical and tissue culture methods to monitor environmental estrogens. 28 environmental water samples were collected from various sites around South Africa and analyzed for EDCs using a battery of rapid in vitro tests. Samples collected for the current study were selected based on various human impacts and also to give approximately 50% high and 50% low estrogen values. The 28 environmental water samples were separated into two groups based on the estradiol ELISA. The estradiol ELISA was chosen because estradiol is the principal estrogen found in all mammalian species during their reproductive years. For this separation, an estradiol level of 5 pg/ml was used as cut-off. Of the 28 samples investigated, 15 had estradiol levels higher than 5 pg/ml and were designated as high estradiol. The remaining 13 samples contained estradiol at 5 pg/ml or less and they were designated as low estradiol The first objective of this study was to compare different rapid ELISAs for EDC monitoring to determine if the data obtained with these assays are similar/identical. The data obtained from the estrogenic ELISAs was related/similar and showed good correlation with each other. This is because the different estrogens are very similar and also due to the fact that the same sub-group in the population (the reproductively active females) is secreting these hormones. Therefore, an estradiol rapid assay was proposed as a first screening system for estrogens in samples. Even though there was a positive correlation between the estradiol rapid assay and testosterone rapid assay, separation of samples based on estradiol levels wasn’t a good predictor of testosterone levels in the samples. A testosterone rapid assay was therefore recommended as necessary to screen for androgens in samples. The positive correlation between the estradiol rapid assay and progesterone rapid assay was expected because both estradiol and progesterone are secreted and excreted by the same population sub-group (reproductively active females). This study also demonstrated a good predictability of separating samples containing progesterone using the estradiol ELISA. Progesterone is secreted by pregnant women, a sub-group of the reproductively active females. It is advised that a progesterone rapid assay be included to screen samples for progestogens The second objective of this study was to compare estradiol rapid ELISAs with a bioassay for anti-androgenicity using mouse testicular cell cultures. The mouse testicular cell testosterone synthesis bioassay to monitor anti-androgenicity of the samples showed no correlation between the ELISA data for estrogens. This study shows that anti-androgenic effects need to be monitored independently because the data for estrogenic compounds cannot be used as a predictor for anti-androgenic effects. This demonstrated the need for the inclusion of a mouse testicular cell testosterone synthesis bioassay to screen for androgenicity and anti-androgenicity of water samples. In summary, due to the different mechanisms of action of EDCs, this study recommended a battery of assays to monitor for EDCs. The battery of assays suggested is: v progesterone rapid assay was expected because both estradiol and progesterone are secreted and excreted by the same population sub-group (reproductively active females). This study also demonstrated a good predictability of separating samples containing progesterone using the estradiol ELISA. Progesterone is secreted by pregnant women, a sub-group of the reproductively active females. It is advised that a progesterone rapid assay be included to screen samples for progestogens. The second objective of this study was to compare estradiol rapid ELISAs with a bioassay for anti-androgenicity using mouse testicular cell cultures. The mouse testicular cell testosterone synthesis bioassay to monitor anti-androgenicity of the samples showed no correlation between the ELISA data for estrogens. This study shows that anti-androgenic effects need to be monitored independently because the data for estrogenic compounds cannot be used as a predictor for anti-androgenic effects. This demonstrated the need for the inclusion of a mouse testicular cell testosterone synthesis bioassay to screen for androgenicity and anti-androgenicity of water samples. In summary, due to the different mechanisms of action of EDCs, this study recommended a battery of assays to monitor for EDCs. The battery of assays suggested is: Estradiol ELISA as a rapid assay to screen for estrogens. Testosterone ELISA as a rapid assay to screen for androgens. Progesterone ELISA as a rapid assay to screen for progestogens. Mouse testicular cell testosterone synthesis bioassay to screen for androgenicity and anti-androgenicity.

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