American Chemistry Council Welcomes IPCS Report; New Assessment Finds No Firm Evidence of Endocrine Disruption in Humans 8/15/2002
From: Chris VandenHeuvel of the American Chemistry Council, 703-741-5587, e-mail: chris(underscore)[email protected] ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 15 -- A leading international authority on human health and chemical safety issued its final report on the state-of-the-science regarding endocrine-disrupting compounds in the environment this week, concluding that years of diligent scientific investigation have not demonstrated a causal link between environmental exposures to endocrine-active agents and adverse effects on human health. The American Chemistry Council welcomes this report and its findings as an important step towards answering questions about the endocrine disruption hypothesis. The International Program on Chemical Safety's (IPCS) report (1) was initiated to address continuing uncertainties regarding the effects of alleged endocrine-active agents. The new assessment was based on a thorough and objective weight-of-the-evidence evaluation of the global peer-reviewed literature on endocrine disruption. Key findings of the report include: -- Analysis of the human data by itself "has so far failed to provide firm evidence of direct causal associations between low level (i.e., levels measured in the general population) exposure to (endocrine-active) chemicals...and adverse health outcomes." -- "Overall, the current scientific knowledge provides evidence that certain effects observed in wildlife can be attributed to chemicals that function as endocrine disrupting chemicals. However, in most cases, the evidence of a causal link is weak, and most effects have been observed in areas where chemical contamination is high." The IPCS report confirms the complexity of the endocrine disruption issue and raises an important cautionary warning about the limitations of using laboratory experiments to draw conclusions about human health risks. It also confirms that there is no direct link between environmental exposures to endocrine-active agents and adverse health outcomes in humans. The American Chemistry Council is fully engaged with the scientific community in the broad effort to better understand the potential effects of chemicals and other compounds on humans and wildlife. This effort, which is most notably demonstrated by the Council's commitment of $25 million per year to the Long-Range Research Initiative (2), includes research related to the endocrine disruption issue. The American Chemistry Council will continue to be a cooperative and constructive partner in scientific investigation of the endocrine disruption issue. At the same time, the Council will continue to champion the fundamental tenet that public policy and product stewardship decisions should be based on rigorous and reliable scientific evidence. ------ The American Chemistry Council represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. Council members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people's lives better, healthier and safer. The Council is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care, common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $462 billion a year enterprise and a key element of the nation's economy. It is the nation's #1 exporting sector, accounting for 10 cents out of every dollar in U.S. exports. Chemistry companies invest more in research and development than any other industry. (1) http://www.who.int/pcs/emerg_site/edc/global_edc(unde r)TOC.htm (2) http://www.uslri.org |