On February 29, 2016 the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, met with members of the Endocrine Society who offered their scientific expertise on criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Society members Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Rémy Slama, and Leonardo Trasande referred to Endocrine Society’s second scientific statement on EDCs (FPF reported) showing that EDCs are an urgent public health threat and that “governments need to design regulations to protect vulnerable populations from irreversible effects.” Further, the members emphasized the significant costs of over €150 billion per year in Europe resulting from “inaction, inadequate action, or improper regulation of EDCs” (FPF reported). Endocrine Society strongly recommends science-based criteria for the definition of EDCs with no potency cutoffs because these are “inconsistent with endocrine science and […] unsuitable for hazard characterization.” Thus, the Society supports option 3 of the EU EDC roadmap (FPF reported) which “does not include potency as a criterion and offers a multi-level categorization based on level of evidence.”

On March 4, 2016 the EU Environment Council will discuss EDCs and the criteria for definition. On this occasion, more than 60 non-governmental environmental and health organizations have sent a letter to the Environment Ministers urging them to call on the European Commission “to immediately comply with the ruling of the European Court of Justice on scientific criteria to identify endocrine disruptors.”

Read more

Endocrine Society (March 1, 2016). “European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety meets with Endocrine Society members on endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

ChemSec (March 2, 2016). “Potency should not be part of EDC criteria, scientists state.

Genon Jensen & Michael Warhurst (March 2, 2016). “Endocrine disruptors: ‘Better Regulation’ or better public health?EurAktiv

Michael Warhurst (March 3, 2016). “Endocrine disruptors: ‘Better Regulation’ or better public health?CHEM Trust

Share