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Research Programs
Endocrine Disruptors Effects Research
Endocrine Disruptors
Effects Research
Methods Development & Screening Studies
Based on compelling evidence that EDCs pose a threat to the health and well-being of humans and other organisms, Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments in 1996 requiring that EPA initiate a program to screen pesticide chemicals and environmental contaminants for their potential to induce endocrine effects. Because there are literally thousands of chemicals to which humans and wildlife are potentially exposed, and because it is impossible to run long-term tests on multiple species for all chemicals of potential concern, EPA researchers are developing and improving methods to determine which classes of chemicals have effects on the endocrine system.
Examples of potentially very useful tools include short-term in vitro and in vivo assays, models based on structure-activity relationships, and experiments based on specific biochemical pathways through which substances are thought to induce their effects. Also under study are animal models (especially models of testicular cancer, endometriosis, breast cancer, and prostate cancer) that could help scientists identify the potential of EDCs to produce these diseases in humans.
Read more about the methods EPA scientists are developing to study EDCs.