Comment submitted by Laura Weinberg, The Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition

LPW513@aol.com 09/16/2007 08:07 PM To NCIC OPPT@EPA cc bcc Subject Comments regarding endocrine disruptors Dear EPA Endocrine Disruptor Researchers and Coordinators: Thank you for determining your list of chemicals in order to find out whether or not they cause endocrine disruption. One chemical that we hope you will also consider including, Sumithrin, is widely used for mosquito control and was found by a Mount Sinai researcher, Mary Wolff, to show biological activity as an estrogen mimicker. Actually as a result of the following study, you'll note that the researchers suggest that all pyrethroids should be tested for endocrine disruption. Thank you for your time and for conducting this important initiative. Sincerely, Laura Weinberg The Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition--Long Island, New York The abstract for the above mentioned study is: Vera Go,1 Joan Garey,2 Mary S. Wolff,2 and Beatriz G.T. Pogo3 1Molecular Basis of Diseases Program; 2Department of Community and Preventive Medicine; and 3Department of Medicine, Division of Neoplastic Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029 USA Introduction Methods Results Discussion Abstract Estrogens, whether natural or synthetic, clearly influence reproductive development, senescence, and carcinogenesis. Pyrethroid insecticides are now the most widely used agents for indoor pest control, providing potential for human exposure. Using the MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line, we studied the estrogenic potential of several synthetic pyrethroid compounds in vitro using pS2 mRNA levels as the end point. We tested sumithrin, fenvalerate, d-trans allethrin, and permethrin. Nanomolar concentrations of either sumithrin or fenvalerate were sufficient to increase pS2 expression slightly above basal levels. At micromolar concentrations, these two pyrethroid compounds induced pS2 expression to levels comparable to those elicited by 10 nM 17ß-estradiol (fivefold) . The estrogenic activity of sumithrin was abolished with co-treatment with an antiestrogen (ICI 164,384) , whereas estrogenic activity of fenvalerate was not significantly diminished with antiestrogen co-treatment. In addition, both sumithrin and fenvalerate were able to induce cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a dose-response fashion. Neither permethrin nor d-trans allethrin affected pS2 expression. Permethrin had a noticeable effect on cell proliferation at 100 µM, whereas d-trans allethrin slightly induced MCF-7 cell proliferation at 10 µM, but was toxic at higher concentrations. Overall, our studies imply that each pyrethroid compound is unique in its ability to influence several cellular pathways. These findings suggest that pyrethroids should be considered to be hormone disruptors, and their potential to affect endocrine function in humans and wildlife should be investigated. Key words: 17ß-estradiol, MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells, pS2, pyrethroid, RNA. Environ Health Perspect 107:173-177 (1999) . [Online 21 January 1999] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p173-177go/ abstract.html See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.