title: Using systematic reviews for hazard and risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
abstract: The possibility that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in our environment contribute to hormonally related effects and diseases observed in human and wildlife populations has caused concern among decision makers and researchers alike. EDCs challenge principles traditionally applied in chemical risk assessment and the identification and assessment of these compounds has been a much debated topic during the last decade. State of the science reports and risk assessments of potential EDCs have been criticized for not using systematic and transparent approaches in the evaluation of evidence. In the fields of medicine and health care, systematic review methodologies have been developed and used to enable objectivity and transparency in the evaluation of scientific evidence for decision making. Lately, such approaches have also been promoted for use in the environmental health sciences and risk assessment of chemicals. Systematic review approaches could provide a tool for improving the evaluation of evidence for decision making regarding EDCs, e.g. by enabling systematic and transparent use of academic research data in this process. In this review we discuss the advantages and challenges of applying systematic review methodology in the identification and assessment of EDCs.
authors: Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Beronius
authors: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences, 149B Goessmann, 686 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA. lvandenberg@schoolph.umass.edu.
authors: Laura N
authors: LN
authors: Vandenberg
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D017753:Ecosystem; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004785:Environmental Pollutants
keywords: (4–6): endocrine disruptor; Guideline endpoint; Hazard assessment; Low dose; Study evaluation; Threshold