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Endocrine disrupters are chemicals
that interfere with functions of the endocrine (hormonal) system:
they can be natural and synthetic hormones, polychloro-biphenyls,
dioxins, furans, DDT persistent pesticides, or chemicals used
in detergents or in the plastics industry. Many are ubiquitous
environmental pollutants.
Potential health effects include breast, prostate, and testicular
cancer, urogenital malformations, and reduced male fertility.
In children, exposure may affect the thyroid and the immune system
and alter physical and mental development. The potential threat
to our health makes endocrine disrupters both a medical and a
social concern.
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Male reproductive
health under investigation
To address recent reports that male reproductive
health may be declining, an ongoing project(1)
aims to establish the current status in Europe,
to identify possible causes of adverse effects,
and to
evaluate non-invasive methods for detecting
exposures leading to urogenital
malformations or reduced fertility in men.
One hypothesis is that environmental factors
such as excess natural hormones or synthetic
endocrine disrupters, most likely in combination
with other factors, have adverse effects on
the developing testes. Animal experiments and
gene expression studies are now under way to
test this hypothesis, and the partners are evaluating
new assay methods for sex steroids and anti-sex
steroids in human samples. |
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Increasing incidence of human male reproductive
health disorders in relation to environmental
effects on growth-and sex-steroid induced alterations
in programmed development: QLK4-1999-01422 |
Prof. Niels E.
Skakkebaek
Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen (DK)
nes@rh.dk |
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Insight into endocrine
disrupters
Another project(2) funded by the European Commission
is examining the effects of weak environmental
estrogens on target organs. It aims:
- to modulate estrogen levels in pregnant
mice and see how this affects various organs
in the offspring;
- to determine which cells and which receptors
are involved in the observed effects;
- to identify molecular markers that can
be used to diagnose disturbances caused by
estrogens and to develop the clinical use
of human homologues of these markers; and
- to investigate molecular links between
prenatal estrogen exposure, endocrine disruption,
and the development of disease.
The study expects to provide insight into the
mechanisms by which endocrine disrupters exert
their effects, and to provide new diagnostic
tools for assessing their effects in clinical
studies.
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| (2)
The Impact of Developmental Exposure to Weak (Environmental)
Estrogens on the Incidence of Diseases in Target
Organs Later in Life: QLK4-2000-00305 |
Dr Bart van der
Burg
Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology
(NL)
bvdb@niob.knaw.nl |
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