Index Of /endocrine/ Describes the coordination of US federal government efforts to examine the hypothesis that there Category Science Environment endocrine disruptors http://www.epa.gov/endocrine/
Low Dose Endocrine Disruptors Page FINAL Report of the endocrine disruptors LowDose Peer Review http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/liason/LowDoseWebPage.html
EPA/OSCP: Endocrine Disruptors The SAP provides scientific advice on pesticides and their impact on health and the environment endocrine disruptors. Recent Additions Contact Us Print Version Search http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo
Extractions: Related Links The Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program focuses on providing methods and procedures to detect and characterize endocrine activity of pesticides, commercial chemicals and environmental contaminants. This web site provides information about the endocrine system and why certain chemicals can affect it, how the EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program was developed, information on the methods validation subcommittee members , and news on upcoming meetings In recent years, some scientists have proposed that chemicals might be disrupting the endocrine system (glands and hormones) of humans and wildlife. The endocrine system also referred to as the hormone system is made up of glands located throughout the body, hormones which are synthesized and secreted by the glands into the bloodstream, and receptors in the various target organs and tissues which recognize and respond to the hormones. The function of the system is to regulate a wide range of biological processes, including control of blood sugar, growth and function of reproductive systems, regulation of metabolism, brain and nervous system development, and development of an organism from conception through adulthood and old age.
Dr. Raphael J. Witorsch A website that presents the credentials and experience of Professor Witorsch. It also provides information and literature data base on Environmental Estrogens and other endocrine disruptors. http://witorsch.com/Ray/
Health Care Without Harm >> Home Collaborative campaign for environmentally responsible health care made up of more than 250 organizations. Work to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of environmental harm by eliminating pollution in health care. Also info on endocrine disruptors. http://www.noharm.org/
Extractions: New! Going Green: A Resource Kit for Pollution Prevention in Health Care 'First Do No Harm' Mission : To transform the health care industry worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information, see our specific goals News >> February 21, 2003: Landmark state legislation introduced in California that would ban the sale and distribution of medical devices containing the chemical DEHP a phthalate linked to reproductive birth defects. Read the HCWH press release and the California legislation . Massachusetts is also currently considering legislation that calls for the substitution of safer alternatives for DEHP-containing medical devices and other products. Read the text of the bill , a factsheet , and a list of cosponsors >> February 19, 2003: Children and pregnant women need immediate protection from DEHP, says sweeping new European Union proposal that seeks to immediately ban DEHP from medical devices used on newborn babies and toys. Read our press release . Read the full risk reduction strategy submitted by the Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate.
Pesticides As Endocrine Disruptors Pesticide Impacts on Human Health Pesticides as endocrine disruptors. RACHEL'S Learnmore about endocrine disruptors and their effects. Washington http://www.pmac.net/endodisr.htm
Extractions: Human Health Pesticides as Endocrine Disruptors Kids at risk Genes may solve hormone-disrupter debate , Robert Triendl, Toyko, Nature, Volumbe 209, January 28, 2001 Environmental Estrogens and Their Hormones "An educational service and an interactive forum where those interested in environmental estrogens and other environmental hormones can find accurate, timely information and can contribute to the ongoing public debate." Cause for Precautionary Action Pesticide, Fertilizer Mixes Linked to Range of Health Problems , Co-authors James W. Jaeger Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Zoology, and Ian H. Carlson of the Edocrinology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin Hospital. Posted on the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Office of News and Public Affairs "Endocrine, Immune, and Behavioral Effects of Aldicarb (Carbamate), Atrazine (Triazine) and Nitrate (Fertilizer) Mixtures at Groundwater Concentrations"
ThreeFold Sensors: Biosensor Assay Systems TFS makes realtime biosensors which measure molecular interactions and binding kinetics and detect environmental endocrine disruptors. http://ic.net/~tfs/TFS_Default.html
Extractions: ThreeFold Sensors (TFS) develops biosensor assays and biosensor instrumentation for research and environmental applications where rapid results are desirable. TFS BioSensors can be used in research settings to measure concentrations or to perform kinetic assay measurements of analytes in water, blood and urine. TFS BioSensors measurements can be made in 3-10 minutes with accuracies comparable to laboratory assays methods taking 4-24 hours. For researchers interested in developing biosensor assays or measuring the binding and dissociation rates of molecular interactions, TFS's provides development kits which allow researchers to sensitize their own fibers and assemble sensor cartridges for use with TFS BioSensor measurement systems. This platform is well suited to drug discovery research based upon molecular interaction analysis using receptor proteins. To learn more about TFS and available BioSensor products, click the appropriate button on the left. s="na";c="na";j="na";f=""+escape(document.referrer)
WWF: Global Toxics: Program Areas: Endocrine Disruptors: endocrine disruptors are synthetic chemicals that block, mimic or otherwise interferewith naturally produced hormones, the body's chemical messengers, that http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics/progareas/ed/
Extractions: Read WWF's Comments to the EPA about Endocrine Disrupting Pesticides Endocrine disruptors are synthetic chemicals that block, mimic or otherwise interfere with naturally produced hormones, the body's chemical messengers, that control how an organism develops and functions. Wildlife and humans are exposed daily to these pervasive chemicals that have already caused numerous adverse effects in wildlife and are most likely affecting humans as well. Hormones play a crucial role in the proper development of the growing fetus. The fetus is vulnerable even to the most minute concentrations of introduced substances. Substances that have no effect in an adult can become poisonous in the developing embryo. Chemicals are passed from mother to offspring, via the womb and breastmilk in mammals and via the egg in reptiles, amphibians, fish and chickens, leading to "trans-generational" effects. Some endocrine disrupting chemicals are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate; they accumulate in the fatty tissue of organisms and increase in concentration as they move up through the food web. Because of their persistence and mobility, they accumulate in and harm species far from their original source.
WWF: Global Toxics: Program Areas: Endocrine Disruptors: Science Yes No Privacy Policy. Science Science of endocrine disruptors More InfoState of the Science. Recent Findings. Low Dose Research Findings. http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics/progareas/ed/science.htm
Extractions: Our current knowledge of endocrine disruption has been propelled by the evolving science surrounding this phenomenon. Scientific investigation has intensified over the last several years and has provided steadily growing evidence linking synthetic endocrine-disrupting compounds to impaired health in wildlife and humans. The role of WWF's Wildlife and Contaminants Program is best described as "second order science" gathering, synthesizing and analyzing peer-reviewed literature and convening consensus-building work sessions. WCP focuses on combining the (primary) research results of scientists from across many disciplines to determine how these findings fit together in terms of human and wildlife health and biodiversity. WCP gathers and synthesizes these data through ongoing, intensive analysis of the peer-reviewed literature as well as constant contact and exchange with many researchers as they work. The State of Science section provides an overview of how the endocrine disruption theory evolved as well as a synopsis of the growing laboratory and wildlife evidence that researchers have compiled thus far.
OECD Endocrine Disruptors Assessment Part of the OECD Test Guidelines Programme, focused on reaching international agreement on the testing and assessment of chemicals with respect to their endocrine disrupting potential. http://www.oecd.org/EN/document/0,,EN-document-524-14-no-24-6685-524,00.html
Endocrine Disruptors - Info Request & Meeting Delayed Peer Review Meeting on LowDose Issues for endocrine disruptors; Scope of InformationConsidered for Review Broadened, Deadline for Receipt of Information http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/liason/EndocrineMtgDelayFR.html
Extractions: [Pages 20478-20479] DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH; National Toxicology Program Peer Review Meeting on Low-Dose Issues for Endocrine Disruptors; Scope of Information Considered for Review Broadened, Deadline for Receipt of Information Extended, and Date for Meeting Delayed Summary The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is organizing a Peer Review to evaluate whether chemicals can cause hormone-related effects at doses lower than those typically used in the standard toxicological dose-setting paradigm. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program will use the results from this peer review to assist in determining how to identify and characterize potential low-dose effects that may arise during endocrine disruptor screening, testing, and hazard assessment. On January 6, 2000 the NTP published a Federal Register notice [Volume 65, Number 4, pages 784-787] outlining plans for the Peer Review meeting and soliciting public input into the process. This notice broadens the request for research studies and data to be considered and extends previously announced deadlines for receipt of research information for use in this peer review.
NRDC: Endocrine Disruptors FAQ Answers to these and other questions What are endocrine disruptors?How do we know endocrine disruptors are dangerous? What can http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/qendoc.asp
Extractions: The endocrine system is a complex network of glands and hormones that regulates many of the body's functions, including growth, development and maturation, as well as the way various organs operate. The endocrine glands including the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, thymus, pancreas, ovaries, and testes release carefully-measured amounts of hormones into the bloodstream that act as natural chemical messengers, traveling to different parts of the body in order to control and adjust many life functions. An endocrine disruptor is a synthetic chemical that when absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body's normal functions. This disruption can happen through altering normal hormone levels, halting or stimulating the production of hormones, or changing the way hormones travel through the body, thus affecting the functions that these hormones control. Chemicals that are known human endocrine disruptors include diethylstilbesterol (the drug DES), dioxin, PCBs, DDT, and some other pesticides. Many chemicals, particularly pesticides and plasticizers, are suspected endocrine disruptors based on limited animal studies.
Extractions: Frank S. Balthis ourism and souvenir trinkets have despoiled Bar Harbor, on Maine's Mount Desert Island. But one spring morning I find myself in a deserted and apparently pristine cove on the seaward side of the island, protected by money and the Nature Conservancy on the shore and by isolation in the water. The cove has the vaguely Pleistocene look of a Scottish firth, and I expect a serpentine dinosaur neck to shoot up from the water at any moment-only instead of Nessie it's a colony of noisy, inquisitive, and extremely appealing harbor seals. Bobbing heads and bushy whiskers surround our rubber Zodiac, the seals fearless in their medium, their round, black, mournful eyes looking me over, and when they dive back down my eyes follow them under as I try to imagine their watery world. No question, I'm a creature of the coast. So is my host, Susan Shaw, director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI), which over the previous three days held a conference in Bar Harbor to discuss the impacts of the pollutants known as endocrine disruptors on seals and other marine wildlife. Shaw, fifty-seven, is a bony woman with a narrow face, long neck, and thin lips, whom I watched during the conference trying nervously to impress the celebrated scientists she'd invited. But today she is transformed into a carefree teenager, her toes curling over the edges of her sandals in excitement as she pushes our Zodiac to full throttle, at home amid the waters and creatures to which she has devoted her career in public health.
CAAT: Workshop Program INTRODUCTION for. TestSmartendocrine disruptors. February 2122, 2001 CandlerBuilding 111 Market Place, Suite 310 International Room Baltimore, Maryland. http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/workshops/testsmart/endo-intro.htm
Extractions: ALTWEB.JHSPH.EDU WORLDCONGRESS.NET ALTWEBSEARCH.ORG JHSPH.EDU ... CONTACT US The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health INTRODUCTION Baltimore, Maryland Proceedings In February, the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) organized a two-day workshop to set the agenda for a later public meeting on environmental chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors. Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the chemical industry, the animal protection community, and academia were invited to participate. CAAT organized the meeting in response to a federal program to test chemicals for their potential to disrupt endocrine systems in both human beings and wildlife. That program requires a battery of tests to determine whether chemicals might mimic-or block-the effects of estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormones in animals and people, with harmful consequences. The current testing plan, known as the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), was developed in response to mandates included within the Food Quality Protection Act and amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Those laws require EPA to screen pesticides and other chemicals for their potential to disrupt endocrine systems in both human beings and wildlife. Based on recommendations from a scientific panel known as the Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC), the EPA has proposed a battery of in vivo and in vitro tests. These tests, currently undergoing validation, have the potential to use an enormous number of animals to determine which chemicals are hormonally active.
CAAT: TestSmart Program CAAT began by offering TestSmartHPV chemicals and has offered workshopson TestSmart-Pharmaceuticals and TestSmart-endocrine disruptors. http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/workshops/testsmart/testsmart.htm
Extractions: ALTWEB.JHSPH.EDU WORLDCONGRESS.NET ALTWEBSEARCH.ORG JHSPH.EDU ... CONTACT US The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health In 1999, CAAT introduced TestSmart, a new approach to risk assessment. TestSmart is intended to provide a new model for toxicology, one that is both more humane and more predictive. We seek to work with both the U.S. regulatory community and industry to identify newer, better testing methods than those commonly used or accepted today. Our short-term goal is to reduce the number of animals required for testing. Our long-term goal is to provide a process that will protect both people and the environment better than current methods can. CAAT began by offering TestSmart-HPV chemicals and has offered workshops on TestSmart-Pharmaceuticals and TestSmart-Endocrine Disruptors. TestSmart-Acute Toxicity is under development. TestSmart-HPV In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Chemical Manufacturers Association agreed to conduct hazard evaluation studies on 2,800 top-selling or high production volume (HPV) chemicals to determine their effects on people and the environment. Because these studies would require large numbers of animal tests, CAAT asked the parties involved to step back and consider whether the same information could be collected with fewer animals, and whether new approaches could be used for gathering this data. A TestSmart-HPV workshop was organized in April 1999; participants represented government, industry, academia, and the animal protection community. Following the workshop, the EPA announced it had decreased its estimates for animal use by 80%.
Extractions: Dr. Keith in Washington, DC July 8, 1997. EEDs may cause a variety of endocrine and reproductive system defects including malformations of newborns, undecended testicles, abnormal sperm, low sperm counts, feminization of males and masculinization of females, thyroid dysfunction, etc. In addition they are also suspected of contributing to increased evidence of cervical, breast, and prostate cancer. A major concern is that EEDs may exhibit their primary effects on the developing fetus; in these instances the time of exposure is more critical than the concentration level, but in all cases the environmental levels of concern are extremely low (e.g., parts per trillion and below). In addition, Dr. Keith has prepared a summary from a
WELCOME TO THE GLOBAL ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR RESEARCH INVENTORY site also includes information about the status of the IPCS supported InternationalAssessment Document on the Stateof-the Science of endocrine disruptors. http://endocrine.ei.jrc.it/gedri/pack_edri.All_Page
Extractions: TO THE GLOBAL ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR RESEARCH INVENTORY This compilation of ongoing research projects related to endocrine disruptions was assembled following the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the 1997 Declaration of the Environment Leaders of the Eight on Children's Environmental Health. The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) agreed to accept this responsibility in conjunction with the development of an international state of the science on endocrine disruption. In a coordinated fashion, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreed to take the lead for delineating test methods and testing needs related to endocrine disruption. The inventory was developed following the process developed for the 1996 Federal Research Inventory (EDRI) done by the United States. The initial goal was to bring together and update the existing United States Inventory with those of the Canadian government and the European Union. This has been accomplished and we are now encouraging and accepting submission of research projects by other countries and private industry so that it will be as comprehensive as possible. This inventory is also being maintained at a mirror site at the Joint Research Center of the European Union at Ispra, Italy. This mirror site also includes information about the status of the IPCS supported International Assessment Document on the State-of-the Science of Endocrine Disruptors.