Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Perinatal exposure to FireMaster® 550 (FM550), brominated or organophosphate flame retardants produces sex and compound specific effects on adult Wistar rat socioemotional behavior.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Witchey, SK; Al Samara, L; Horman, BM; Stapleton, HM; Patisaul, HB
Published in: Hormones and behavior
November 2020

Firemaster 550 (FM550) is a flame retardant (FR) mixture that has become one of the most commonly used FRs in household items such as foam-based furniture and baby products. Because this mixture readily leaches from products, contamination of the environment and human tissues is widespread. Prior work by us and others has reported sex-specific behavioral deficits in rodents and zebrafish following early life exposure. In an effort to understand the mechanisms by which these behavioral effects occur, here we explored the effects of its constituents on behavioral outcomes previously shown to be altered by developmental FM550 exposure. The FM550 commercial mixture is composed of two brominated compounds (BFR) and two organophosphate compounds (OPFRs) at almost equivalent proportions. Both the BFR and the OPFR components are differentially metabolized and structurally distinct, but similar to known neurotoxicants. Here we examined adult Wistar rat offspring socioemotional behaviors following perinatal exposure (oral, to the dam) to vehicle, 2000 μg/day FM550, 1000 μg/day BFR or 1000 μg/day OPFR from gestation day 0 to weaning. Beginning on postnatal day 65 offspring from all groups were subjected to a series of behavioral tasks including open field, elevated plus maze, marble burying, social interaction tests, and running wheel. Effects were exposure-, sex- and task-specific, with BFR exposure resulting in the most consistent behavioral deficits. Overall, exposed females showed more deficits compared to males across all dose groups and tasks. These findings help elucidate how different classes of flame retardants, independently and as a mixture, contribute to sex-specific behavioral effects of exposure.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Hormones and behavior

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

ISSN

0018-506X

Publication Date

November 2020

Volume

126

Start / End Page

104853

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Rats
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
  • Pregnancy
  • Polybrominated Biphenyls
  • Organophosphates
  • Maternal Exposure
  • Male
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Witchey, S. K., Al Samara, L., Horman, B. M., Stapleton, H. M., & Patisaul, H. B. (2020). Perinatal exposure to FireMaster® 550 (FM550), brominated or organophosphate flame retardants produces sex and compound specific effects on adult Wistar rat socioemotional behavior. Hormones and Behavior, 126, 104853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104853
Witchey, Shannah K., Loujain Al Samara, Brian M. Horman, Heather M. Stapleton, and Heather B. Patisaul. “Perinatal exposure to FireMaster® 550 (FM550), brominated or organophosphate flame retardants produces sex and compound specific effects on adult Wistar rat socioemotional behavior.Hormones and Behavior 126 (November 2020): 104853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104853.
Witchey, Shannah K., et al. “Perinatal exposure to FireMaster® 550 (FM550), brominated or organophosphate flame retardants produces sex and compound specific effects on adult Wistar rat socioemotional behavior.Hormones and Behavior, vol. 126, Nov. 2020, p. 104853. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104853.
Journal cover image

Published In

Hormones and behavior

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

ISSN

0018-506X

Publication Date

November 2020

Volume

126

Start / End Page

104853

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Rats
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
  • Pregnancy
  • Polybrominated Biphenyls
  • Organophosphates
  • Maternal Exposure
  • Male