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Priority List Warns of Possible Endocrine Disruptors

The European Commission has alerted its member states to 66 potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been associated in at least one study with cancers and reproductive abnormalities. The list will form the basis of consultation with industry and NGOs before a final priority set of substances is adopted. Read More

The European Commission has alerted its member states to 66 potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been associated in at least one study with cancers and reproductive abnormalities. The list will form the basis of consultation with industry and NGOs before a final priority set of substances is adopted.

The establishment of a priority list of EDCs was the first action proposed last year in a European Commission strategy to tackle the chemicals. The strategy is needed because, as a commentary on the new draft list states, “there is conclusive evidence for effects (such as cancers and reproductive abnormalities) on wildlife, but the evidence for effects on humans is varying and sometimes contradictory.”

Produced for the Commission by Dutch consultants BKH and TNO, the draft list was whittled down from a set of 564 “candidate” substances suggested by previous action lists
from various sources. Of these, the consultants focused on 147 chemicals that are produced in high volumes or are very persistent in the environment.

For 66 of them, termed category 1 substances, evidence of endocrine disruption already exists, and for all but six of these researchers found a “high exposure concern” for both humans and wildlife. The list includes well-know toxic substances such as DDT, PCBs, organotins and dioxins, but also some pesticides, styrene, and some of the phthalates already targeted for phase-out in some children’s toys.

Few chemicals off the hook

Only 11 of the 500-plus candidate substances are cleared in the consultants’ report as non-EDCs. On the other hand, 205 were not even assessed for possible endocrine-disrupting properties as there was insufficient data on whether they were persistent in the environment.

Exactly which and how many substances end up on the definitive EU list will depend on the consultation and internal Commission discussions. Once adopted later this year or early next, those chemicals not already being assessed under the EU’s existing substances program will be tested to see whether indications that they pose a threat are well-founded.

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