Tuesday, June 25, 2013

US EPA Opens 60-day Reveiw ad Comment Period for Another Step in it's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program

In continuing it's efforts to evaluate the potential exposure risk from Endocrine Disruptors, yesterday US EPA released a 60-day "...Public Review and Comment on Draft Information Collection Request for Tier 2 Data for Pesticide Chemicals for Endocrine Disruptor Screening".

Short version? They are creating a list that is a subset of the Final Tier 1 list (posted June 14, 2013) already created that would need additional testing.

Science helps create the questions, but both the regulations and the monitoring & sampling plans have to fit into a legal structure, while attempting to comply with the rights of ALL individuals who would be impacted. While that all may sound like "double-speak", it is the system we have allowed and encouraged to be created by our legislatures.

The key is to take time to read, ask questions, and GET ANSWERS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. Not doing that leaves us with answers and actions we don't like! We are responsible...


http://www.epa.gov/endo/

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

What is an Endocrine Disruptor, and why should I care?


The simplest explanation of the endocrine system is a group of organs distributed throughout the body the send messenger chemicals (hormones) through the bloodstream to cell receptors (which are sort of like an antenna) to cause changes.  They have a wide range of functions, need to be balanced, and are critical to our health.   Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that the cell receptors (or the organ) misinterpret, and then act accordingly.  This can deplete necessary resources, impair proper function, or cancel out messages sent by an organ that the body needs.

The chemicals being evaluated are at lower levels, and the concern is both exposure and cumulative effects. Low levels of these over time can cause a stress reaction, dampen the response from overstimulation (an example is Type II Diabetes), or block receptors.  Sometimes an endocrine disruptor can stay locked onto the receptor, effectively removing it as a receiver.  And we have little information about the long term impact of a group of endocrine disrupting chemicals that mimic the same hormone. 

Research continues on impacts, but one part of the regulatory assessment (and therefore risk) is “opportunity for exposure”.  That is why these chemicals are being targeted for regular monitoring.

If you would like to do some additional reading, below are several links, from different perspectives to the problem, for you to look over. There are many more, but these are a great place to start:

USEPA:  

Natural Resources Defense Council:

National Institute of Environmental Health Science: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/

Wikipedia:

ED FOR Dummies:

One additional resource to see current and recent research is Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: http://www.setac.org/