Abstract
The Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), mandated by the United States Congress in the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, attempts to protect public health from adverse endocrine effects of synthetic chemical compounds by establishing a new testing regime. But the complexities and uncertainties of endocrine disruption and its broader regulatory and social context all but ensure the failure of this policy. This article addresses the issues facing EDSP comprehensively and in detail, in order to move beyond the current regulatory paradigm and foster discourse on a positive role for scientists in support of EDSP's end goal: to protect public health.
Highlights
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as mandated in the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) and the Safe Drinking Water Amendments Act of 1996 (SDWAA)
This study aims to integrate the many factors conditioning the failure of EDSP for the purpose of fostering constructive discussion on U.S regulatory policy concerning EDCs and chemicals more generally
Other researchers and watchdogs note the failure of other U.S chemical regulatory programs to effectively gather information or protect public health (e.g. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) [6,7], and FQPA [8]; for a broader critique [9,10])
Summary
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as mandated in the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) and the Safe Drinking Water Amendments Act of 1996 (SDWAA). [D]evelop a screening program, using appropriate validated test systems and other scientifically relevant information, to determine whether certain substances may have an effect in humans that is similar to an effect produced by a naturally occurring estrogen, or such other endocrine effects as the [EPA] Administrator may designate [2]. If such an effect is discovered, "the [EPA] Administrator shall, as appropriate, take action under such statutory authority as is available...as is necessary to ensure the protection of public health" [2]. Determining exposure levels becomes more important (page number not for citation purposes)
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