원문정보
초록
영어
Phthalates and their esters (PE’s) are industrially important chemicals used for the manufacture of plastics, synthetic fibers, cosmetics etc. These phthalate compounds enter into the environment through effluents and aerosols. One of the most threatening and toxic behaviors of PE’s is that they mimic human endocrine hormone/s. There is no information available on the other toxicity aspects of these PE’s apart from their endocrine disrupting action. Here, by the use of recombinant bacteria specific for a known type of toxicity as signature, it was possible to identify that the PE’s also cause serious membrane damage along with moderate oxidative and protein damages. Authentic chemical compounds as possible candidates of PE’s breakdown products also showed similar toxicity behavior as that of their microbial mediated degradation byproducts.(1, 2)