On November 6, 2015 the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) held a technical meeting on the methodology used to screen for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the context of the impact assessment on criteria to identify EDCs (FPF reported). Sharon Munn, Sander van der Linden and Alfonso Lostia of the EC’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) presented the methodology which consists of data gathering, data organization, and data analysis. Data will be collected primarily from existing assessment reports (e.g. EFSA conclusions, REACH restriction dossiers, support documents for SVHC identification). Additional data sources are among others the Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) list and the Substitute It Now! (SIN) list. Studies on in vitro toxicity, mammalian toxicity and ecotoxicity will be considered. In terms of effects, endpoints related to the production/action of steroid hormones (impacts on reproduction) and thyroid hormones (impacts on growth and development) will be captured. For data analysis, a decision tree will be employed according to the different EDC criteria options. The chemical selection subject to the screening will consists of approx. 400 substances under the Plant Protection Products Regulation (PPPR), approx. 100 substances under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), and approx. 200 substances under the regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the Cosmetic Products Regulation, or the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
The JRC presentation slides as well as a video recording of the meeting are available on DG SANTE’s website.
Read more
EC – DG SANTE (November 6, 2015). ”Impact assessment on criteria to identify endocrine disruptors – technical meeting on the Joint Research Centre methodology.”
ChemSec (November 6, 2015). “Ambitious EDC screening methodology, but too many question marks on further impact assessment.”
