Endocrine disrupting chemicals 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 ... 

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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