Six chemical substances possess endocrine disrupting effects – and especially combination effects when they are assessed together. Force Technology, DHI and researchers from FREIA partners at the DTU National Food Institute have performed risk assessments for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Force Technology, together with DHI and researchers at the DTU National Food Institute, has evaluated six chemical substances for their risk of exerting endocrine disrupting effect.
The six substances were:
- Butylhydroxyanisole (BHA),
- Butylhydroxytoluene (BHT),
- Butyl paraben,
- Propyl paraben,
- Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4),
- Bisphenol A (BPA),
The risk assessment shows that exposure to the substances individually does not constitute a risk, but that the total exposure can be a cause for concern. This conclusion is based on recent exposure assessments for the six substances, as well as a hazard assessment of the substances’ endocrine disrupting properties.
The hazard assessment shows evidence that all substances have endocrine disrupting effects. However, the evidence is stronger for some of the substances (D4, BPA, butylparaben, propylparaben) than for others (BHA and BHT).
Endocrine disruptors are suspected to contribute to the increasing incidence rate of, for example, genital malformations, reduced fertility, the development of obesity and diabetes and compromised brain development. The substances can be found in a wide range of consumer products, including foods, food contact materials and medicines.
It is not enough to evaluate chemicals individually
In recent years several major research projects at the DTU National Food Institute have shown that combination effects of endocrine disruptors exist, and that these should be taken into account when risk assessing chemicals.
If you only evaluate the substances one at a time, you will underestimate the overall risk of endocrine disrupting effects. Therefore, the risk of the combined exposure from several different chemical substances from several different sources was assessed in this project.
Threshold value or not?
In EU it has been discussed in recent years whether or not there is a threshold value for lower effect of endocrine disruptors. It is possible that, as with carcinogens, there is no lower limit for endocrine disrupting effects. The calculations in the report were therefore made both with and without assumption of threshold values.
Read more
- Read the report Chemical analyzes and risk assessment of endocrine disruptors in products for pregnant women and children (pdf).
Read more about the DTU Food Institute’s research into endocrine disruptors and cocktail effects in an article in the DTU National Food Institute’s 60th anniversary publication: The unborn child must be better protected against chemical cocktails (pdf)
The research group for Molecular and Reproductive Toxicology is researching how environmental chemicals can disrupt normal development and thus be the cause of disease with a special focus on endocrine disruptors.
The Center for Endocrine Disruptors (CeHoS) investigates endocrine disruptors and their effects on humans, animals and the environment, closes knowledge gaps and advises the authorities. The center is led by researchers from Rigshospitalet, the DTU National Food Institute and the University of Southern Denmark.
NOTE: this message was copied from the DTU website. The original message (posted 28 June 2022) can be found here.