Introduction to the science and regulation concerning endocrine disrupting chemicals: the challenges ahead
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Genomics, Toxicology, Histology
- Keywords
- endocrine disruption, risk assessment, Hazard assessment, environmental, test development, legislation, evaluation
- Copyright
- © 2016 Leopold et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2016. Introduction to the science and regulation concerning endocrine disrupting chemicals: the challenges ahead. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2583v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2583v1
Abstract
Presentations in session one of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Focused Topic Meeting: Endocrine Disruption (February 4 – 6, 2014) described where the science and the regulations have arrived and identified the key challenges that lie ahead. The first presentation gave an overview of where the endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) issue currently stands in terms of science and policy. It introduced the significant debate about whether suspected EDCs should be evaluated using a hazard-based or a risk-based approach. Subsequent presentations provided a synopsis of the US-EPA Endocrine Disruption Screening Program (EDSP), including a description of the legislative origins of the program, its risk-based nature, its evolution and its future through the input of multi-stakeholder advisory groups. A presentation was given about the current status of potential regulatory activities in the European Union (EU) relative to EDCs and the fact that it is a highly political subject in Europe was highlighted. Finally an EU- industry perspective was given on the repercussions of hazard versus risk-based approaches for EDCs. Both European speakers noted that the regulatory situation in the EU is not set and that at present it is not possible to predict exactly how EDCs will be addressed.
Author Comment
This paper is paper 1 of a special series of five papers, preceded by an introductory paper (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, 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 disrupters 5. Future challenges for EDC screening and testing.