The Plight of the Washing Machine
By: Carmen Snowdon
Read moreIt's #TechnicalTuesday! #TeamWRc Toxicologist Marek Pípal is discussing endocrine disruptors; their harmful effects and upcoming regulation changes.
Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are substances that can interfere with the hormone system and cause a wide range of adverse effects that can include reproductive or neurodevelopmental toxicity. It has been a continuous challenge for chemical risk assessors and managers to identify and regulate these compounds. The most substantial progress in Europe was introducing comprehensive guidance for identification of endocrine disruptors for plant protection products and biocides (Reg. EC 1107/2009 and Reg. EU 528/2012) that was published in 2018. Since its implementation, a number of compounds have been banned in Europe on the basis of ED properties, despite ongoing issues with lack of standard toxicity testing methods and discussion about some of the definitions.
Our toxicologists at the National Centre for Environmental Toxicology (NCET) were involved in ED assessments using the most up-to-date approaches for information collation and weight of evidence. We are looking forward to the planned introduction of new hazard classification for EDs under the Classification, Labelling and Packaging regulation in Europe (Reg. EC 1272/2008) which will significantly broaden the spectrum of compounds that will need to be assessed for ED properties.