Donald Tillitt, PhD (Former Employee)

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including the mass-produced component of plastics, bisphenol A (BPA) are widely prevalent in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Many aquatic species, such as fish, amphibians, aquatic reptiles and mammals, are exposed daily to high concentrations of BPA and ethinyl estradiol (EE2), estrogen in birth control pills. In this review, we will...

Environmental chemicals can disrupt endocrine signaling and adversely impact sexual differentiation in wildlife. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic chemical commonly found in a variety of habitats. In this study, we used painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), which have temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), as an animal model for ontogenetic endocrine disruption by BPA. We...

Surface water contamination by chemical pollutants increasingly threatens water quality around the world. Among the many contaminants found in surface water, there is growing concern regarding endocrine disrupting chemicals, based on their ability to interfere with some aspect of hormone action in exposed organisms, including humans. This study assessed water quality at several sites...

The transgenerational consequences of environmental contaminant exposures of aquatic vertebrates have the potential for broad ecological impacts, yet are largely uninvestigated. Bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are two ubiquitous estrogenic chemicals present in aquatic environments throughout the United States and many other countries. Aquatic organisms, including fish...

Concern exists that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be contributing to the current decline of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and the US federally endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). Waterborne exposures with newly fertilized eggs were used to assess developmental and morphological effects of 2 of the most potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)...

Methyl-mercury (MeHg) is a potent neuroendocrine disruptor that impairs reproductive processes in fish. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize transcriptomic changes induced by MeHg exposure in the female largemouth bass (LMB) hypothalamus under controlled laboratory conditions, (2) investigate the health and reproductive impacts of MeHg exposure on male and female...