In a review article published on August 8, 2023, in the journal Nature Reviews Endocrinology, Carol Duh-Leong from New York University Grossman School of Medicine, US, and co-authors outlined evidence-based policy actions that allow minimizing the impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
The authors summarized that health, medical, and scientific organizations alike have highlighted the evidence of EDCs’ harmful effects on human health and the environment (FPF reported and here). Another consequence coming with their adverse effects is the extensive costs of EDC exposure (FPF reported). For instance, the scientists pointed out that disease costs of EDCs per year were estimated to be $340 billion in the US and 163€ billion in the EU.
On a good note, “researchers have shown that policies and interventions — implemented on an individual basis and at government levels — have the potential to reduce exposure to EDCs,” Duh-Leong and co-authors explained. In their review, they describe four challenges and science-based policy solutions for managing, minimizing, or eliminating EDC use and thereby reducing their related disease and cost burden:
- Although regulatory bodies have defined EDC properties, they have not operationalized them in policies. The solutions pointed out by the authors include enforcing already existing legal mandates to test chemicals for EDC properties, prohibiting the use of known EDCs, and testing chemicals with missing data. To allow the latter, suitable high-throughput in vitro methods delivering sufficient evidence on EDC properties have to be determined.
- The widely demonstrated evidence of the non-linearity and non-monotonicity of EDCs dose-response relationship (FPF reported and here) is still not considered but can and should be. Here, the scientists proposed to apply “a no-threshold approach in regulations and enforcement” as well as to evaluate EDCs by a hazard-based approach.
- The effect of EDCs may only appear later in life, not directly after exposure. Therefore, the authors recommended ensuring that new chemicals pose no harm during vulnerable phases of development. The use of existing chemicals with concerning data should be minimized also when data gaps exist.
- Another challenge discussed is that current testing approaches neither account for chemical mixtures (FPF reported) nor cumulative effects. This could be addressed by regulating chemicals as a class.
Duh-Leong and co-authors highlighted that “a sound strategy also requires partnering with health-care providers to integrate strategies to prevent EDC exposure in clinical care. Critical next steps include addressing EDCs within global policy frameworks by integrating EDC exposure prevention into emerging climate policy.”
In a review article published on July 26, 2023, in the journal Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Alyssa K. Merrill and co-authors from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, US, focused on EDC effects on the immune and metabolic level during pregnancy. The authors described how pregnancy might be a period in life particularly vulnerable to EDC exposure due to the body undergoing physiological changes and dynamic hormonal fluctuations.
In their review, the authors summarized studies that investigated associations between EDC exposure and cellular and molecular changes at the maternal-fetal interface. They further outlined the current understanding of the link between EDCs and pregnancy disorders such as gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorders, intrauterine growth restriction, and pregnancy loss, before providing recommendations for further research.
References
Duh-Leong, C. (2023). “The regulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals to minimize their impact on health.” Nature Reviews Endocrinology. DOI: 10.1038/s41574-023-00872-x
Merrill, A. K. (2023). “Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals impacts immunological and metabolic status of women during pregnancy.” Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2023.112031
