Endocrine disruption comes into regulatory focus

Endocrine disruption has come under regulatory scrutiny since the passage of 1996 federal laws. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) convened the Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) to develop recommendations for a screening and testing program to assess chemicals potential to disrupt hormone function. The committee's September 1998 consensus report is important because it signals that endocrine disruption is a threat which a responsible society has an obligation to address. Furthermore, the program will generate significant new toxicological data. However, shortcomings in the EPA program will include: inadequate low dose testing; lack of a screening assay that examines early developmental exposure; and mechanisms that substitute "functionally equivalent" information. Implementation will face serious hurdles: insufficient funding; realistic validation yardsticks; resolution of crucial scientific questions, and political will. A wide diversity of constituencies appeared before the EDSTAC during public meetings, and the public will stay engaged by commenting on EPA s proposed program and by nominating chemicals for inclusion in the program. A meaningful response to endocrine disruption exposes a fundamental flaw in traditional risk assessment. If there is no "safe" exposure, there is also no regulatory threshold to identify.