Endocrine Disrupters definition

In order to establish consensus on the scope of the endocrine disrupter issue, to facilitate the identification of active chemicals and, ultimately, to underpin any future regulatory control, it is essential to agree a precise definition of an endocrine disrupter (ED). Such a definition was proposed at a major European Workshop on EDs. ... 

It was agreed at the workshop that endocrine disrupting activity could only be adequately defined in terms of effects in intact animals, be they juvenile or adult, or in the offspring of exposed parents. For many chemicals, evidence of endocrine disrupting activity has been obtained only by the use of in vitro models, such as hormone binding assays. It was accepted, therefore, that chemicals active in such models should be considered only as potential EDs and should be distinguished from those established as active in vivo. For such chemicals, an alternative definition was recommended ... 

For the purposes of this chapter, reproductive toxicity will refer to any manifestations of xenobiotic exposure, including endocrine disruption (see discussion below), reflecting adverse effects on any of the physiological processes and associated behaviors and/or anatomical structures involved in animal reproduction or development (Figure 36.1). This is a fairly broad definition which encompasses developmental toxicity, as well as any toxic... 

Definition of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [101] An environmental endocrine disrupter is defined as an exogenous agent that interferes with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body, that are responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis, reproduction, development, and/or behavior. 

Definition by Experts of the European Workshop in Weybridge, UK The workshop was organized by the European Commission, the European Environmental Agency, the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, the OECD, national authorities and agencies of the UK, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands as well as CEEIC and ECETOC. It was agreed that an endocrine disrupter could be adequa-... 

A second problem concerns delimiting the mechanisms of action which should be included in the definition, to exclude effects which are a secondary consequence of overt toxicity in other body systems. For example, disruption to the endocrine system caused by general metabolic disturbance, such as in severe liver damage, should not be grounds for calling a chemical an ED. 

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