Endocrine disruption: where are we with hazard and risk assessment?
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Environmental Sciences, Toxicology, Science Policy
- Keywords
- Endocrine disruption, Hazard, Risk, Glyphosate, Alkylphenols, Ethinyl Estradiol
- Licence
- This is an open access article, free of all copyright, made available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
- Cite this article
- 2016. Endocrine disruption: where are we with hazard and risk assessment? PeerJ Preprints 4:e2580v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2580v1
Abstract
Approaches to assessing endocrine disruptors (EDs) differ across the globe, with some regulatory environments using a hazard-based approach, while others employ risk-based analyses. In session four of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Focused Topic Meeting: Endocrine Disruption Chemical Testing: Risk Assessment Approaches and Implications (February 4 – 6, 2014), various aspects related to the hazard and/or risk assessment of EDs were explored. The presentations in the session included an overview of the regulatory environments for assessing and managing endocrine disruptors, and scenarios whereby a hazard-based approach might be most appropriate were discussed. Three case studies for ED assessment, one for an industrial chemical, one for a pharmaceutical, and one for a pesticide, were presented. The topics of non-monotonic dose response relationships as well as potency and threshold effects were also presented in this session, since these concepts are important for determining whether a risk or hazard based approach to ED regulation is most appropriate. Session four concluded with an open discussion concerning the issue of hazard and risk as a basis for regulating EDCs. An outcome of session four was the drafting of an outreach statement that summarizes the overarching themes of this session.
Author Comment
This is paper four of a special series of five papers (all submitted as preprints to PeerJ Preprints) titled: "Special Series on Endocrine Disruption: Chemical Testing, Risk Assessment Approaches and Implications'' about the Focused Topic Meeting held on this topic from 4 – 6 February, 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. The series presents the knowledge disseminated and the discussions held on: a) the status of the USEPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), b) how data from both EDSP-directed testing and other sources may be interpreted and applied in regulatory settings and c) approaches for moving beyond estrogen, androgen and thyroid pathways to address current challenges and expanding future approaches to EDC testing. The running heads of these 5 papers are:
1. Science and regulation of endocrine disruption: challenges ahead
2. Lesson learned from Tier 1
3. Extended and multigeneration testing protocols for evaluating endocrine disrupting chemicals.
4. Hazard and Risk assessment of endocrine disruptors
5. Future challenges for EDC screening and testing.