On June 30, 2016 the European Commission (EC) published the report “Screening of available evidence on chemical substances for the identification of endocrine disruptors according to different options in the context of an Impact Assessment.” The screening assessed the number and identity of substances which would be identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) under each of the four options for EDC criteria as outlined in the EU EDC roadmap (FPF reported). The EC published the list of substances which were subject to the screening in December 2015 (FPF reported) and the screening methodology was developed by the EC’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) (FPF reported).
The report shows that option 1 of the EDC roadmap is the most conservative approach and leads to the highest percentage of substances potentially categorized as EDCs (14.7%). Option 2 and 4 yield the lowest percentages of potential EDCs (9.2% and 4.3%, respectively). Option 3 also identifies 9.2% potential EDCs (category 1), as well as 27.6% suspected EDCs (category 2) and 15.2% endocrine active substances (category 3). The results of this screening exercise were used as input for the EC’s impact assessment on criteria to identify EDCs which was published along with a proposal for EDC criteria on June 15, 2016 (FPF reported). In its proposal, the EC opted for option 2; however, the wording of the definition was changed such that EDCs must be ‘known to cause an adverse effect’ rather than ‘may cause adverse effect’ (FPF reported).
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EC (June 30, 2016). “Screening of available evidence on chemical substances for the identification of endocrine disruptors according to different options in the context of an Impact Assessment.” (pdf)
