Chapter 17: Challenges in Endocrine Disruptor Toxicology and Risk Assessment
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Published:08 Dec 2020
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Special Collection: 2020 ebook collectionSeries: Issues in Toxicology
C. N. Amadi, S. J. Offor, and O. E. Orisakwe, in Challenges in Endocrine Disruptor Toxicology and Risk Assessment, ed. A. Mantovani and A. Fucic, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020, ch. 17, pp. 408-429.
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The effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the ecosystem have been studied for many decades and they are known to pose a major health risk to humans even at low doses. Exposure to EDCs can be through diet, environmental or occupation exposures. These chemicals are known to affect the normal functioning of the endocrine system, resulting in a wide array of disease conditions. This review aims to provide a brief report on the bottlenecks and challenges associated with risk assessments of EDCs. An electronic search of literature from scientific databases was conducted. A total of 48 original scientific reports and review articles were obtained with the search strategy; of which 12 were found to be eligible to be included in the present review. For several years, there has been a growing wealth of debates and arguments by scientists and regulatory bodies regarding the definition, possible health effects and risk assessments of EDCs. Different regulatory agencies have come up with relevant approaches in tackling these challenges which are still ongoing. Despite existing uncertainties, there is a desperate need to harmonize methods for comprehensive risk assessment of these debilitating chemicals.