title: Scientific principles for the identification of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: a consensus statement.
abstract: Endocrine disruption is a specific form of toxicity, where natural and/or anthropogenic chemicals, known as "endocrine disruptors" (EDs), trigger adverse health effects by disrupting the endogenous hormone system. There is need to harmonize guidance on the regulation of EDs, but this has been hampered by what appeared as a lack of consensus among scientists. This publication provides summary information about a consensus reached by a group of world-leading scientists that can serve as the basis for the development of ED criteria in relevant EU legislation. Twenty-three international scientists from different disciplines discussed principles and open questions on ED identification as outlined in a draft consensus paper at an expert meeting hosted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin, Germany on 11-12 April 2016. Participants reached a consensus regarding scientific principles for the identification of EDs. The paper discusses the consensus reached on background, definition of an ED and related concepts, sources of uncertainty, scientific principles important for ED identification, and research needs. It highlights the difficulty in retrospectively reconstructing ED exposure, insufficient range of validated test systems for EDs, and some issues impacting on the evaluation of the risk from EDs, such as non-monotonic dose-response and thresholds, modes of action, and exposure assessment. This report provides the consensus statement on EDs agreed among all participating scientists. The meeting facilitated a productive debate and reduced a number of differences in views. It is expected that the consensus reached will serve as an important basis for the development of regulatory ED criteria.
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany. Endocrine.Disruption@bfr.bund.de.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solecki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University, London, Uxbridge, UK.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kortenkamp
authors.affiliation: Swedish Toxicology Sciences Research Center, Södertälje, Sweden.
authors.forename: Åke
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.affiliation: Charité, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chahoud
authors.affiliation: IFADO, Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Gisela H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Degen
authors.affiliation: Universität Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.affiliation: TU München, München, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Greim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Håkansson
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Denmark, DTU, Søborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hass
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Trine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Husoy
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Chilton, UK.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University, London, Uxbridge, UK.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jobling
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marx-Stoelting
authors.affiliation: RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aldert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piersma
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: Inserm, CNRS and University Grenoble-Alpes Joint Research Centre, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Remy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slama
authors.affiliation: Charité, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stahlmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Risk Assessment Studies (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
authors.forename: R Thomas
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Zoeller
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Boobis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000633:toxicity*; D005062:European Union; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors