Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/etap Impact of common environmental chemicals bisphenol A and bisphenol S on the physiology of Lumbriculus variegatus Victoria Vought a , Hong-Sheng Wang b, ⁎ a High Technology High School, Lincroft, NJ, United States b Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Lumbriculus variegatus Oligochaete BPA BPS Endocrine disruptor ABSTRACT Bisphenol A (BPA) is a component of polycarbonate plastics and a near ubiquitous environmental endocrine disrupting chemical. Bisphenol S (BPS), a substitute of BPA, is also hormonally active. This study examines the effects of aqueous exposure to BPA and BPS on the freshwater annelids Lumbriculus variegatus, a keystone species in shallow water ecosystems. Both BPA and BPS, at both low dose (10 -9 M) and high dose (10 -6 M), retarded the initial phase of body regrowth after cutting/fragmentation, which is the main mode of reproduction of L. var- iegatus. Both acute and five day exposure to BPA and BPS increased pulse rate of the dorsal blood vessel. For all the measured endpoints, the effects of BPA and BPS were nearly indistinguishable. These results indicate that BPA and BPS have similar and significant effects on the physiology of L. variegatus. These findings have im- plication for the potential impact of these bisphenols on invertebrates in the ecosystem. 1. Introduction Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical commonly used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, and is pre- sent in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. BPA is a high- production volume chemical, with global annual production of 3.9 million metric in 2006 and 5 million metric tons in 2010 (Careghini et al., 2015). Because of the pervasive use of BPA in modern manu- facturing, human exposure to BPA is widespread (Vandenberg et al., 2010). Human exposure routes to BPA include dietary, dermal, air, and dust (Vandenberg et al., 2007; Welshons et al., 2006). BPA is an es- trogenic endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). Numerous epidemiolo- gical and animal studies have linked BPA to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and various disorders in the reproductive, neuronal, immune, and cardiovascular systems (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al., 2009; Melzer et al., 2010; Zoeller et al., 2012). Due to the public’s growing concern about the potential adverse health effects of BPA, manufacturers are switching away from BPA- based consumer plastics and have introduced various “BPA-free” al- ternatives. These plastics are made from BPA substitutes, such as Bisphenol S (BPS). Although its usage in manufacturing is a relatively recent event, BPS has already been detected in the environment. BPS was reported in most river water samples in Japan, China, Korea and India with median concentration in the low ng/L or low μg/L range (Yamazaki et al., 2015). Wide human exposure to BPS has been re- ported in various populations including that of the US (Liao et al., 2012), indicating common presence of BPS in the environment. Recent research has suggested that BPS shares a similar potency and behavior with BPA in estrogenic, antiestrogenic, androgenic, and antiandrogenic ways (Rochester and Bolden, 2015). We have recently shown that BPS has arrhythmogenic effects on rodent cardiac hearts and myocytes that are indistinguishable from those of BPA (Gao et al., 2015). In addition to their negative health effects, environmental EDCs can have major impact on wildlife and ecosystems (Hutchinson et al., 2000; Tyler et al., 1998). The presence of BPA in the environment is near ubiquitous. Major sources of BPA entering the environment include release during manufacturing and transportation, sewage effluent, landfill leachate, domestic waste combustion, and degradation of polycarbonate plastics in the environment (Barral et al., 2000; Kalmykova et al., 2013; Masoner et al., 2014; Meesters and Schroder, 2002; Wintgens et al., 2003). Bisphenols are found at relatively high concentrations in rivers, lakes and estuaries throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, especially in those near urban areas (Corrales et al., 2015). BPA and other estrogenic EDCs have a range of impact on wildlife species, including alteration of sex determination during de- velopment, alteration of gonadal function and secondary sexual char- acteristics and reproductive behaviors, neurobehavioral alterations, stimulating vitellogenin production, alterations of gene expressions, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2018.05.003 Received 22 February 2018; Received in revised form 4 May 2018; Accepted 7 May 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45267-0575, United States. E-mail address: wanghs@uc.edu (H.-S. Wang). Abbreviations: ANOVA, one-way analysis of variance; BPA, bisphenol A; BPS, bisphenol S; EDC, endocrine disrupting chemical; ER, estrogen receptor; DBV, dorsal blood vessel Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 60 (2018) 225–229 Available online 08 May 2018 1382-6689/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T