Scientific Consensus Confirms Low Dose Exposure Risk to Hormone Disrupting Chemicals

In recent weeks I’ve written about the debates around whether or not “the dose makes the poison” when it comes to chemical exposures. The answer to this debate, when you look at the scientific literature, is that the answer depends on the chemical. Not all chemicals are harmful and not all chemicals are harmful at high or low doses. It depends.

So where is the science to back up the claim that low dose exposures matter? Here is a list of 19 scientific consensus papers (and this isn’t even a comprehensive list!), from leading researchers, dating back to the ’90s. These consensus papers are a way the scientific community shows that there is agreement around scientific concepts. In this case, the issue being whether or not we need to be concerned about small doses of endocrine disrupting compounds.

Here are some of the scientific consensus papers for you to review for yourself, and as you can see the body of science is robust and has been evolving over the last twenty years.

• Journal of the Endocrine Society 2020: Thresholds and Endocrine Disruptors: An Endocrine Society Policy Perspective
• The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology 2020: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: economic, regulatory, and policy implications
• The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology 2020: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: implications for human health
• Nature Reviews Endocrinology 2019: Consensus on the key characteristics of endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a basis for hazard identification
  
• National Library of Medicine 2017: Scientific principles for the identification of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: a consensus statement
• Archives of Toxicology 2017: Scientific principles for the identification of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: a consensus statement
• Endocrine Reviews 2015: EDC-2: The Endocrine Society’s Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
• Vallombrosa 2005: Vallombrosa Consensus Statement on environmental contaminants and human fertility compromise
• Prague Declaration 2005: Prague Declaration on Endocrine Disruption
• International Programme on Chemical Safety (NIEHS-WHO), 2002: Global Assessment of the State-of-the-Science of Endocrine Disruptors
• US National Toxicology Program, 2000: Scientific peer review of low-dose studies
• The Royal Society 2000: Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
• Yokohama 1999: The Effects of Endocrine Disruptors in Living Things
• National Research Council 1999: Hormonally-active Agents in the Environment
• Erice 1995: Environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals: neural, endocrine and behavioral effects
• Wingspread 1995-II: Chemically-induced alterations in the developing immune system: the wildlife/human connection
• Wingspread 1995-I: Chemically-induced alterations in functional development and reproduction of fishes
• Wingspread 1993: Environmentally induced alterations in development: a focus on wildlife
• Wingspread 1991: Chemically-induced alterations in sexual development: the wildlife/human connection

There is still a lot for us to learn about hormone disruption, especially as it relates to our exposures from every day products like cosmetics, household cleaners and pesticides. But what we do know should call us to action.

Join me in shopping for safer products—because it doesn’t hurt to avoid exposures where possible. And call your members of Congress to take action to restrict endocrine disrupting chemicals from the manufacturing of our beauty products, children’s toys, cookware, and other consumer goods.

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