Health, Safety & the Environment
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| Endocrine Disruption: The Regulatory Response |
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| In response to rising public concerns about the potential adverse effects of environmental exposure to endocrine disruptors, the European Commission DG Environment launched a ‘Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters’ in December 1999. |
Subsequently, the Commission initiated the publication of various reports. One of these, “Towards the establishment of a priority list of substances for further evaluation in their role in endocrine disruption”, formed the basis of a multi-stakeholder consultation process during the second half of 2002. The Scientific Committee for the Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE)'s evaluation of the project criticizes the report based on inadequate scientific criteria. The committee recommends that no regulatory decision should be based on any resulting list of potentially ‘endocrine disrupting’ chemicals.
| EC-Commissioned Research |
As part of the 5th Community R&D Programme, the EC is funding a cluster of four endocrine-related research projects for €20 million.
This research is aimed at complementing existing efforts in assessing the risks posed by endocrine disruptors on the environment and human life. The projects intend to help identify exposure mechanisms, define measurable end-points and effects of endocrine disruption, and analyse risk associated with exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. They will provide new data in specific areas:
EDEN explores low dose and mixture effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wildlife as an indicator of risk to human health.
COMPRENDO examines the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on androgenic and antiandrogenic aquatic models to explore the potential effects on humans.
EURISKED establishes risk assessments of selected endocrine disrupting chemical compounds on non-reproductive organs.
FIRE assesses risk related to brominated flame retardants as endocrine disruptors on human health and wildlife.
