Society makes strong case for prioritization of EDCs as a public health threat
Yesterday, Vytenis Andriukaitis, MD, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, hosted members of the Endocrine Society who offered their scientific expertise with comments and concerns regarding the European Commission’s process to develop criteria to identify endocrine disruptors. An endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) is a chemical or mixture of chemicals in the environment that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action.
Society members Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, MD, PhD, Rémy Slama, PhD, and Leonardo Trasande, MD shared highlights from the Endocrine Society’s new Scientific Statement demonstrating that EDCs are an important public health threat, and that governments need to design regulations to protect vulnerable populations from irreversible effects. Furthermore, they emphasized the significant costs of inaction, inadequate action, or improper regulation of EDCs. Recent studies have shown that health effects from EDC exposure cost the EU more than €157 billion each year.
The Society previously weighed in on the EU Roadmap options for identifying EDCs, and the Society’s representatives discussed science-based criteria for the definition of EDCs and explained why potency cutoffs are inconsistent with endocrine science and are unsuitable for hazard characterization. The Society supports the Roadmap option 3 which does not include potency as a criterion and offers a multi-level categorization based on level of evidence.
The Society is deeply concerned about the impact seen in patients’ lives that are increasingly linked to exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. The Endocrine Society will continue to contribute scientific expertise to the EU’s efforts to ensure that the end result of EDC identification and subsequent regulatory process will effectively protect the public’s health.
About the Endocrine Society
Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, including diabetes, obesity, infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the largest global organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.
With more than 18,000 members in 133 countries, the Society serves as the voice of the endocrine field. Through its renowned journals and ENDO, the world's largest endocrine meeting, the Society accelerates hormone research, advances clinical excellence in endocrinology, and advocates for evidence-based policies on behalf of the global endocrine community. To learn more, visit our online newsroom.
Colleen Williams Associate Director, Communications and Media Relations Phone: (202)-971-3611 [email protected]
Jenni Glenn Gingery Director, Communications and Media Relations Phone: (202)-971-3655 [email protected]
