The effects of 28-day early-life exposure to triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) on odor preference and sexual behavior in female rats

Many chemical substances are detectable in house dust, and they are consequently taken into our bodies via the mouth and nose. Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP), a flame retardant that has an estrogen-like effect in vitro, is present in house dust at high concentrations. Estrogen exposure during development has significant influences on reproductive behavior in rodents, and its effects persist until maturity. In the present study, we investigated the effect of early life exposure to TPhP on the reproductive behavior of female rats. Oral treatment with TPhP (25 or 250 mg/kg), ethinyl estradiol (EE; 15 mu g/kg) as a positive control, or sesame oil as a negative control, were given to female rats (from birth to 28 days of age). The 8-week-old rats were bilaterally ovariectomized. At 12-15 weeks of age, the rats were subjected to odor preference and sexual behavior tests. In the odor preference test, the oil group showed significantly higher preference for male odor than female odor, but the low-dose TPhP treatment group lost the preference for male odor, indicating a possible outcome of early life TPhP exposure on sexual recognition. In the sexual behavior test, both the EE and TPhP treatment groups displayed significantly less proceptive behavior. These results suggest that early life exposure to TPhP disturbs the normal sexual behavior of female rats.