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Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC)

The EDSTAC was a federal advisory committee formed in 1996 to make recommendations to EPA on how to develop the screening and testing program called for by Congress. EDSTAC was composed of representatives from industry, government, environmental and public health groups, worker safety groups, and academia. These committee members were charged with developing consensus-based recommendations for a scientifically defensible screening program that would provide EPA the necessary information to make regulatory decisions about the endocrine effects of chemicals.

EPA charged EDSTAC to advise the Agency regarding:

  1. Methods for chemical selection and priorities for screening,
  2. A set of available, validated screening assays for early application,
  3. Ways to identify new and existing screening assays and mechanisms for their validation,
  4. Processes and criteria for deciding when additional tests beyond screening would be needed and how to validate such tests, and
  5. Processes for communicating to the public about EDSTAC's agreements, recommendations, and information developed during priority setting, screening, and testing.

EDSTAC addressed the health effects on humans and wildlife by focusing attention on estrogenic, androgenic, and thyroid hormone systems. The committee recommended that EPA consider pesticides, industrial chemicals, and environmental contaminants.

Over the course of two years, EDSTAC members thoroughly reviewed and discussed scientific information and sought the opinion of other experts and members of the public on the following topics: conceptual framework of the program; priority setting for screening and testing; screening and testing; and communications and outreach. EDSTAC's Final Report was presented to EPA in September 1998.

Based on these recommendations, EPA developed a tiered approach for the EDSP. The core elements of the proposed approach are: Priority setting, Tier 1 screening, and Tier 2 testing. EPA outlined the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), which incorporated many of EDSTAC's recommendations, in two Federal Register Notices published in 1998: August 1998 (FRL-6021-3) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program [PDF, 4pp., 34KB, About PDF] and December 1998 (FRL-6052-9) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program: Statement of Policy [PDF, 28pp., 228KB, About PDF].

EDSTAC Documents

You will need the free Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more. If you need help accessing these PDF documents, please contact William Wooge at 202-564-8476 or wooge.william@epa.gov for assistance.

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