Detecting endocrine disrupting chemicals activity using the molecularly imprinted polymer technique

Molecular imprinting is a promising technique recently used to detect trace contaminants in aqueous solutions. The technique depends on the reaction between the target molecules (testosterone) and the functional monomer to form a complex in a suitable solvent. Then the complex is polymerized in the presence of a crosslinker. This technique is used to study the affinity of eleven Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDC) to the testosterone sensor. The relation between the classification of chemicals depends on Relative Binding Affinity (RBA), which was calculated from other sources, to the classification obtained from the sensor was compared to investigate any relationship between them. Based on the results of the study, the chemicals were classified into four categories, according to their response at three different concentrations (1, 5, 10 ppb): strong affinity to the sensor (T), moderate affinity (23 chemicals mix, DEP, CHL, VIN, EST, DDE, and DCP), weak affinity (BPA, FLU, and ALD), and inactive (DDT). Also, the percent activity showed that the selected chemicals had lower adsorption to the binding site of the sensor in comparison with testosterone. The results showed that 60% of the classification was identical to the Fang classification, which means that the sensor can be used as a pre-method to study the affinity of EDCs binding to the androgen receptor (AR).