Tag Archives: endocrine disruption

REACH starts to earn its "A": 20 chemicals headed to the Candidate List and 13 to Authorization

By Allison Tracy | Published: December 21, 2011

Allison Tracy is a Chemicals Policy Fellow. Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been busy this week implementing the EU's chemical regulation, REACH (short for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals).

On Monday, ECHA announced it has added 20 more Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) to REACH's Candidate List. These SVHCs are now eligible for later addition to Annex XIV, the list of SVHCs subject to Authorization.

Separately, the agency today forwarded its final recommendation that 13 chemicals already on the Candidate List be formally added to Annex XIV. (We had blogged earlier about ECHA's initial recommendation proposing these 13 SVHCs for Authorization.) If the European Commission confirms this addition, after a specified sunset date, the use of these will be allowed only if specifically authorized by EU authorities. Read More »

Posted in Health Policy, REACH | Also tagged Carcinogenic Mutagenic or Toxic for Reproduction (CMR), formaldehyde, IUR/CDR, Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT), Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), trichloroethylene (TCE), worker safety | Comments closed

A new power couple: The combined impact of the microbiome and chemical exposures on disease susceptibility (Part 1 of 2)

By Allison Tracy | Published: December 15, 2011

Allison Tracy is a Chemicals Policy Fellow. EDF Health Scientist Dr. Jennifer McPartland and Senior Scientist Dr. Richard Denison contributed to this post.

When you’re standing at the kitchen counter this holiday season wrestling with the nebulous world of weight gain, think about synthetic chemicals. A good number of them are in you. And studies show that some of them are pretty busy in there, interacting with various biological systems – including your metabolism.

But they’re not the only show in town. Microbes are busy in your gut doing important things like digesting food and degrading harmful compounds. But could they also influence the size of your love handles? New science suggests that these microbes—in concert with certain chemicals—may have just this effect.

It is becoming increasingly clear that it’s not just your genes and your self control that determine your risk for obesity and related complications like diabetes. Environmental factors are a big part of the equation, and those factors just might extend to synthetic chemicals to which you’re exposed, such as the flame retardants in your furniture and the plasticizers in food can linings. Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged arsenic, bisphenol A, diabetes, flame retardants, in vitro, microbiome, obesity, PBDEs, tributyltin | Comments closed

Chemical safety evaluation: Potential benefits of emerging test methods

By Jennifer McPartland | Bio | Published: May 12, 2011

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.

Parts in this series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

This is the third in a series of blog posts on new approaches that federal agencies are exploring to improve how chemicals are evaluated for safety. Previous posts primarily focused on the scientific principles underlying these efforts. This post will take a pause from scientific fundamentals to discuss some of the opportunities presented by these more novel methods, while subsequent posts will address some of their limitations and remaining challenges. (Not to worry, though, I’ll soon get back to computer-simulated organs as promised.) Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged biomonitoring, computational toxicology, exposure and hazard | Comments closed

Pediatricians: Reform TSCA to protect kids. ACC responds (a la W.C. Fields): We love kids, too

By Richard Denison | Bio | Published: April 26, 2011

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

A long-awaited and full-throated endorsement of comprehensive reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) from the venerable American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) was published online yesterday in the journal Pediatrics.

Right down the line, the AAP’s 8-page policy statement calling for a wholesale overhaul of TSCA mirrors the recommendations of health and environmental advocates, academic researchers and just about anyone else who has paid attention to the mounting body of evidence documenting the linkages between rising chemical exposures and adverse effects on the health of our population, especially the most vulnerable among us: the developing fetus, infants and young children.

The AAP’s recommendations also closely track key provisions in TSCA reform bills introduced last year in both Houses of Congress as well as the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 just re-introduced in the U.S. Senate this month.

This latest statement from the Academy adds it to the list of other major medical and health associations that have previously called on Congress to revamp TSCA, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association and the American Nurses Association.

Given this growing chorus, it is perhaps not surprising that the American Chemistry Council (ACC) would seek to worm its way in to claim that it, too, loves kids and supports TSCA reform.

But dig a bit deeper, and what is most striking is that ACC stridently opposes essentially every element of TSCA reform called for by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read More »

Posted in Health Policy, TSCA | Also tagged aggregate exposure, American Chemistry Council (ACC), children's safety, cumulative exposure, data requirements, pesticides, Safe Chemicals Act, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families | Comments closed

Chemical safety evaluation: Packing tox tests into single drops of liquid!

By Jennifer McPartland | Bio | Published: March 17, 2011

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.

Parts in this series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

In my last post I introduced EPA’s collaborative NexGen effort and briefly described the scientific advances underpinning the program. In this post, I’ll explore some of the potential power of EPA’s efforts, which will require that we get a bit into the nitty gritty (nerd spoiler alert!).

NexGen is focusing on how new scientific knowledge and technological capabilities may interplay with traditional hazard and risk assessment that predominantly relies on more expensive and time-consuming animal studies.

There has been a lot of buzz around what is called high-throughput (HT) testing of chemicals. Just last week, EPA issued a public statement describing the unveiling of a new robot housed at the National Institutes of Health Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC). I highly recommend watching the robot in action by clicking on the “Toxicity Testing Robot System” video link available on the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute’s website. The robot is scheduled to test 10,000 chemicals for potential toxicity! So, what does that actually mean? Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged computational toxicology, risk assessment | Comments closed

Do these chemicals make me look fat?

By EDF Blogs | Published: January 19, 2011

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.

My colleague Richard Denison at EDF ended his last blog post asking, “The new study [Environmental Chemicals in Pregnant Women in the US: NHANES 2003-2004] leaves me with one question: How many more such wake-up calls do we need before our government enacts policies to ensure the safety of chemicals to which we are exposed?”

Maybe this will help shake us awake! The obesity epidemic in the United States is increasing at alarming rates. So too is an associated disease, type 2 diabetes. Researchers have attributed 70% of the risk associated with developing type 2 diabetes with being overweight or obese, a risk that increases by 4.5% for every 2.2 pounds of weight gained over 10 years.

A healthy diet and hitting the gym should keep these diseases at bay, right? Certainly proper nutrition and exercise are good and important habits for controlling our weight and maintaining overall health. But what if, despite all such efforts, there are contributing factors outside of our control, and even outside of our genetic makeup? And what if those potential factors are found in us, on us, and all around us?

New research suggests that chemicals found in our environment and in everyday products may play a significant role in packing on the pounds. Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged bisphenol A, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), obesity, pesticides, phthalates, prenatal, tributyltin | Comments closed

Hitting 'em where it hurts: BPA reduces sperm quantity and quality in male workers

By Richard Denison | Bio | Published: October 28, 2010

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

As reported by Rob Stein in the Washington Post this morning, a NIOSH-funded study of male Chinese workers conducted by researchers at Kaiser-Permanente in Oakland, California has found that exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) significantly increases the incidence of low sperm counts and concentrations, as well as lowered sperm motility and higher mortality.

The 5-year study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Fertility and Sterility (that's a title only slightly more cheery than the CDC's publication Morbidity and Mortality!), shows that the same kinds of adverse effects of BPA on sperm already observed in animal studies also occur in humans with detectable levels of BPA in their urine.

And while the most pronounced effects were observed in highly exposed workers, the authors of the study note:

Similar dose-response associations were observed among participants with only environmental BPA exposure at levels comparable to men in the general United States population.

Despite a markedly reduced sample size in this group of men exposed only to low environmental BPA sources, the inverse correlation between increased urine BPA level and decreased sperm concentration and total sperm count remain statistically significant.

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged aggregate exposure, American Chemistry Council (ACC), bisphenol A, China, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), worker safety | Comments closed

Oil spill dispersants: What part of “contingency plan” did we not understand?

By Richard Denison | Bio | Published: May 24, 2010

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

Now more than a month into the mammoth, out-of-control, no-end-in-sight oil spill at Deepwater Horizon, the unanswered questions, data gaps and withheld information surrounding BP’s use of dispersants are flowing in seemingly as fast as the oil is leaking.

With each passing day, it seems we know less and less about the composition and safety of these dispersants, other available dispersants, and even whether the use of dispersants– especially on this unprecedented scale – is to be advised at all.

It begs the question: Isn’t having ready answers to such questions the reason why the federal government was required to develop a contingency plan in the first place? Read More »

Posted in Health Policy, TSCA | Also tagged BP Oil Disaster, Confidential Business Information (CBI), oil dispersant | Comments closed

Are we ready to get sensible about triclosan use?

By Cal Baier-Anderson | Bio | Published: April 9, 2010

Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.

Yesterday the Washington Post reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is acknowledging that new research raises "valid concerns" about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antimicrobial chemical that can be found in dozens of consumer products as diverse as soaps, personal care products, cutting boards, plastic sandals and even bath towels.

Originally developed as a surgical scrub for use by doctors and nurses, the burgeoning uses of this pesticidal chemical have hugely expanded human and environmental exposures. With little evidence of any actual public health benefits from such uses, FDA along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) should move quickly to limit triclosan use. Only those uses that have a demonstrable public health benefit, when weighed against potential health and environmental risks, should be allowed. Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged CDC, consumer products, exposure and hazard, FDA | Comments closed

Testing for endocrine disruption: Are we there yet?

By Cal Baier-Anderson | Bio | Published: December 22, 2009

Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.

After long delays, the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs recently issued endocrine disruptor screening test orders for dozens of high-priority pesticide ingredients. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals capable of interfering with the action of hormones that regulate biological processes such as development, growth, reproduction and metabolism. The test orders require pesticide manufacturers to evaluate their chemicals using a specific battery of tests.

Identifying which chemicals are endocrine disruptors can help protect people and the environment from harmful exposures. So, with test orders now in the hands of pesticide manufacturers, will we finally get the data we need? Read More »

Posted in Health Science | Also tagged chemical identity, diabetes, in vitro, in vivo, obesity, prenatal, prioritization | Comments closed

Chemicals & Nanomaterials

Tag Archives: endocrine disruption

REACH starts to earn its "A": 20 chemicals headed to the Candidate List and 13 to Authorization

A new power couple: The combined impact of the microbiome and chemical exposures on disease susceptibility (Part 1 of 2)

Chemical safety evaluation: Potential benefits of emerging test methods

Pediatricians: Reform TSCA to protect kids. ACC responds (a la W.C. Fields): We love kids, too

Chemical safety evaluation: Packing tox tests into single drops of liquid!

Do these chemicals make me look fat?

Hitting 'em where it hurts: BPA reduces sperm quantity and quality in male workers

Oil spill dispersants: What part of “contingency plan” did we not understand?

Are we ready to get sensible about triclosan use?

Testing for endocrine disruption: Are we there yet?

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