A cell‐free testing platform to screen chemicals of potential neurotoxic concern across twenty vertebrate species

There is global demand for new in vitro testing tools for ecological risk assessment. The objective of the present study was to apply a set of cell‐free neurochemical assays to screen many chemicals across many species in a relatively high‐throughput manner. The platform assessed 7 receptors and enzymes that mediate neurotransmission of γ‐aminobutyric acid, dopamine, glutamate, and acetylcholine. Each assay was optimized to work across 20 vertebrate species (5 fish, 5 birds, 7 mammalian wildlife, 3 biomedical species including humans). We tested the screening assay platform against 80 chemicals (23 pharmaceuticals and personal care products, 20 metal[loid]s, 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and halogenated organic compounds, 15 pesticides). In total, 10 800 species–chemical–assay combinations were tested, and significant differences were found in 4041 cases. All 7 assays were significantly affected by at least one chemical in each species tested. Among the 80 chemicals tested, nearly all resulted in a significant impact on at least one species and one assay. The 5 most active chemicals were prochloraz, HgCl 2 , Sn, benzo[ a ]pyrene, and vinclozolin. Clustering analyses revealed groupings according to chemicals, species, and chemical–assay combinations. The results show that cell‐free assays can screen a large number of samples in a short period of time in a cost‐effective manner in a range of animals not easily studied using traditional approaches. Strengths and limitations of this approach are discussed, as well as next steps. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3081–3090. © 2017 SETAC