On October 24, 2013 experts united in the office of the Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission Anne Glover to discuss endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The invited experts were Anna Maria Andersson of the Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, Alan Boobis of the Imperial College London, UK, Wolfgang Dekant of the University of Würzburg, Germany, Helmut Greim of the Technical University of Munich, Germany, Ulla Hass of the Danish Technical University, Denmark and Andreas Kortenkamp of Brunel University, UK. Boobis, Dekant and Greim were signatories of a recent letter to Glover criticizing the EU’s EDC policy (previously reported on by the FPF). In contrast to expectations, all scientists present quickly agreed on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of EDCs. The scientists further agreed that thresholds cannot be experimentally determined due to a lack of power. While they all accepted that thresholds may not exist for EDCs, they diverged regarding how often the lack of such thresholds may result in relevant adverse effects. While the existence of non-monotonic dose-response curves was acknowledged, the scientists were discordant regarding how often they can be considered adverse. Finally, the experts understood exposure to and potency of EDCs to be important for risk assessment, but opinions diverged on whether they should already be included during hazard identification or a later stage in risk assessment.
Read more
Jan Marco Müller (October 24, 2013). “Minutes of the expert meeting on endocrine disruptors.” (pdf)
