A report published on 23 January 2013 by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) sees risk assessment as dragging behind the science when it comes to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The authors of the section on bisphenol A (BPA), Andreas Gies (German Environment Agency) and Ana Soto (Professor of molecular and cellular biology, Tufts University, USA) argue that peer-reviewed studies have been much more capable of measuring endocrine disrupting effects than those carried out by contracting laboratories, and that the outcome of a study is significantly associated with the source of funding. The authors criticize that good-manufacturing practice (GMP) studies do not include enough endocrine relevant endpoints. They state that in particular with respect to BPA this has resulted in a significant discrepancy between the results of peer-reviewed studies and those studies that have been used by government to carry out risk assessment.
The 2013 Late lessons from early warnings report assesses the current situation regarding controversial hazards potentially caused by commercially available chemicals and revisits a variety of substances, including vinyl chloride, beryllium and pesticides. It thereby looks at how the potential hazards were framed by regulatory science, and how the framing and vested paradigmatic and economic interests influenced the effectiveness of the decision making process. The report aims to inform future risk management of environmental and public health hazards.
Read more
EEA- Late lessons from early warnings: science, precaution, innovation
