Cytosolic sulfotransferases and environmental estrogenic chemicals

Over the past three decades, a substantial body of evidence has accumulated on the estrogenic activities of numerous environmental compounds. These "environmental estrogens," consisting of pesticides and variety of industrial chemicals and their by-products, are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and are making their way into the food chain. An important issue is whether vertebrate animals are equipped with mechanisms for the inactivation and/or disposal of environmental estrogens. This review attempts to summarize the currently available data concerning the sulfation of environmental estrogenic compounds by the cytosolic sulfotransferases in vertebrate animals.