June 12, 1997

A new European environmental report finds that insufficient evidence exists to definitively link exposure to certain industrial chemicals to effects in the human endocrine system. The report, released by the UK Institute for Environment and Health, summarizes the findings of a major conference on the impact of environmental endocrine disrupters held in Weybridge, UK in December, 1996.

The conference was organized by the European Commission (DGXII); the European Environment Agency; the World Health Organization's European Centre for Environment and Health; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Department of the Environment, England and Wales; Environmental Ministry, Germany; National Chemicals Inspectorate, Sweden; and European industry organizations (CEFIC and ECETOC). It brought together a broad group of international experts, scientists and representatives of relevant national and international governmental departments, industrial organizations and public interests groups from 15 different countries to discuss key issues.

With respect to human effects, the conference report found, "that sufficient evidence exists that testicular cancer rates were increasing and the apparent decline in sperm counts in some areas was unlikely to be attributed to the known confounding variables. The existing exposure information was considered generally insufficient to definitely associate the health effects in humans with chemical exposure." Similarly, for wildlife "there were considered to be few cases within the European Union where effects could be clearly ascribed to the effects of endocrine disrupters."

The conference report recommendations included: increased research and monitoring to help narrow the data gaps; a more coordinated approach to research and monitoring; the establishment of national specimen banks; and better use of existing databases. (The U.S. EPA released a similar report and recommendations earlier this year and has agreed to coordinate its research with the European Union.)

The report recommended that "resource allocation to this area should be balanced against other important public health issues." It was also recommended that "policy should be based on scientific principles, following a weight of evidence approach and that studies should be performed following rigorous scientific principles and practice."

The full text of the conference report, "The Impact of Endocrine Disrupters on Human Health and Wildlife," is available from Dr. Canice Nolan, European Commission, Brussels, phone: 011.32.2.296.1633; fax: 011.32.2.295.2097.