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This document presents summary information and key concerns for decision-makers on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from
the full report entitled State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals—2012. It is part of the ongoing collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to address concerns about the potential adverse effects of anthropogenic chemicals.
We live in a world in which man‐made chemicals have become a part of everyday life. Some of these chemical pollutants can affect the endocrine (hormonal) system and interfere with important developmental processes in humans and wildlife.
Following international recommendations in 1997 by the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety and the Environment Leaders of the Eight regarding the issue of EDCs, the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), a joint programme of WHO, UNEP and the International Labour Organization, developed in 2002 a report entitled Global Assessment of the State‐of‐the‐Science of Endocrine Disruptors (IPCS, 2002).
The general conclusions from this work were that although it is clear that certain environmental chemicals can interfere with normal hormonal processes, there is weak evidence that human health has been adversely affected by exposure to endocrine-active chemicals. However, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that adverse endocrine‐mediated effects have occurred in some wildlife species. Laboratory studies support these conclusions.
The IPCS (2002) document further concluded that there was a need for broad, collaborative and international research initiatives and presented a list of research needs.
Since 2002, intensive scientific work has improved our understanding of the impacts of EDCs on human and wildlife health. Recent scientific reviews and reports published by the Endocrine Society (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al., 2009), the European Commission (Kortenkamp et al., 2011) and the European Environment Agency (2012) illustrate the scientific interest in and complexity of this issue. These documents concluded that there is emerging evidence for adverse reproductive outcomes (infertility, cancers, malformations) from
exposure to EDCs, and there is also mounting evidence for effects of these chemicals on thyroid function, brain function, obesity and metabolism, and insulin and glucose homeostasis.
The Endocrine Society called for timely action to prevent harm (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al., 2009), and the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and the Pediatric Endocrine Society, based in the United States of America (USA), put forward a consensus statement calling for action regarding endocrine disruptors and their effects (Skakkebaek et al., 2011).
In 2012, UNEP and WHO, in collaboration with international experts, have taken a step forward by supporting the development of a main document on endocrine disruptors, including scientific information on their impacts on human and wildlife health, scientific developments over the decade since publication of the IPCS (2002) report and key concerns. The collaboration also included the development of the present summary report, which is aimed at decision-makers and others concerned about the future of human and wildlife health. The key concerns and main messages from the three chapters of the main document are also presented in this summary.