| 1. |
- Bergman, Åke, et al.
(författare)
-
Manufacturing doubt about endocrine disrupter science : A rebuttal of industry-sponsored critical comments on the UNEP/WHO report "State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012"
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology. - : Academic Press. - 0273-2300 .- 1096-0295. ; 73:3, s. 1007-1017
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a detailed response to the critique of "State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012" (UNEP/WHO, 2013) by financial stakeholders, authored by Lamb et al. (2014). Lamb et al.'s claim that UNEP/WHO (2013) does not provide a balanced perspective on endocrine disruption is based on incomplete and misleading quoting of the report through omission of qualifying statements and inaccurate description of study objectives, results and conclusions. Lamb et al. define extremely narrow standards for synthesizing evidence which are then used to dismiss the UNEP/WHO 2013 report as flawed. We show that Lamb et al. misuse conceptual frameworks for assessing causality, especially the Bradford-Hill criteria, by ignoring the fundamental problems that exist with inferring causality from empirical observations. We conclude that Lamb et al.'s attempt of deconstructing the UNEP/WHO (2013) report is not particularly erudite and that their critique is not intended to be convincing to the scientific community, but to confuse the scientific data. Consequently, it promotes misinterpretation of the UNEP/WHO (2013) report by non-specialists, bureaucrats, politicians and other decision makers not intimately familiar with the topic of endocrine disruption and therefore susceptible to false generalizations of bias and subjectivity.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bergman, Åke, et al.
(författare)
-
Science and policy on endocrine disrupters must not be mixed : a reply to a "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors regarding proposed European Union endocrine disrupter regulations ignores scientific evidence and well-established principles of chemical risk assessment. In this commentary, endocrine disrupter experts express their concerns about a recently published, and is in our considered opinion inaccurate and factually incorrect, editorial that has appeared in several journals in toxicology. Some of the shortcomings of the editorial are discussed in detail. We call for a better founded scientific debate which may help to overcome a polarisation of views detrimental to reaching a consensus about scientific foundations for endocrine disrupter regulation in the EU.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Haug, Line Smastuen, et al.
(författare)
-
Levels in food and beverages and daily intake of perfluorinated compounds in Norway
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier BV. - 0045-6535 .- 1879-1298. ; 80:10, s. 1137-1143
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been determined in 21 samples of selected food and beverages such as meat, fish, bread, vegetables, milk, drinking water and tea from the Norwegian marked. Up to 12 different PFCs were detected in the samples. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were found in concentrations similar to or lower than what has been observed in other studies world-wide. Differences in the relative proportion of PFOA and PFOS between samples of animal origin and samples of non-animal origin were observed and support findings that PFOS has a higher bio-accumulation potential in animals than PFOA. Based on these 21 measurements and consumption data for the general Norwegian population, a rough estimate of the total dietary intake of PFCs was found to be around 100 ng d(-1). PFOA and PFOS contributed to about 50% of the total intake. When dividing the population in gender and age groups, estimated intakes were decreasing with increasing age and were higher in males than females. The estimated intakes of PFOS and PFOA in the present study are lower than what has been reported in studies from Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. This study illustrates that by improving the analytical methods for determination of PFC in food samples, a broad range of compounds can be detected, which is important when assessing dietary exposure. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Lenters, Virissa, et al.
(författare)
-
Serum concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and a polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) in men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6750 .- 0160-4120. ; 61, s. 8-16
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many brominated flame retardants (BFRs)-including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)-have been shown to persist in the environment, and some have been associated with adverse health effects. The aim of the present study was to quantify serum concentrations of common brominated flame retardants in Inuit men from across Greenland, and in men from Warsaw, Poland and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Serum was sampled between 2002 and 2004 from men 19 to 50 years of age. 299 samples were analyzed for BDE-28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154 and 183 and the brominated biphenyl BB-153 using gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. BDE-47 and BDE-153 were detected in more than 95% of samples from all three populations. All other congeners, except BDE-154, were detected in more than 70% of samples from Greenland; lower detection frequencies were observed in Polish and Ukrainian samples. Concentrations of individual congeners were 2.7 to 15 fold higher in Greenlandic relative to Polish and Ukrainian men. Geometric mean concentrations of the sum of the most abundant PBDEs of the Penta-BDE commercial mixture (BDE-47, 99, 100, 153 and 154) were 6.1, 1.7 and 0.87 ng/g lipids in the Greenlandic, Polish and Ukrainian men, respectively. Furthermore, significant geographical differences in BFR concentrations were observed within Greenland. Principal component analysis revealed distinct clustering of samples by country of origin. The associations between Sigma PBDEs and age were inconsistent, varying from no association in Greenlandic and Polish study populations to a U-shaped relationship in Ukrainians. We report BFR levels for three populations for which sparse biomonitoring data exists. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 7. |
- Toft, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
-
Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Male Reproductive Function in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine.
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Reproductive Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-1708 .- 0890-6238. ; 43, s. 1-7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Animal and a few human studies suggest that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) may affect male reproductive function. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if male reproductive function was associated with serum level of PBDEs. We evaluated, in a cross-sectional study, the effects of environmental exposure to BDE-47 and BDE-153 on reproductive hormones and semen quality, including markers of DNA damage and apoptosis, in 299 spouses of pregnant women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine. Adjusted linear regression models indicated no strong associations between BDE-47 or BDE-153 exposure and markers of male semen quality or reproductive hormones. In the largest study to date we demonstrate that BDE-47 and BDE-153 exposure was not associated with altered semen characteristics or reproductive hormones, indicating that male reproductive function is not affected by the exposure level of these compounds in fertile European or Arctic populations.
|
|
| 8. |
- Wingfors, Håkan, 1970-
(författare)
-
Pollutant profiles as tools for characterisation of environmental exposure
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is concerned with measurements of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in environmental samples. The POPs consist of several groups of compound with many isomers, hence analysing POPs in a complex environment is a This thesis is concerned with measurements of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in environmental samples. The POPs consist of several groups of compound with many isomers, hence analysing POPs in a complex environment is a challenging task. Studies of the abundance or dynamics of such substances in the environment require careful consideration of several key steps. The environmental and analytical problems must be correctly defined, suitable analytes, sampling strategies and techniques must be selected, the chemical analyses must be reproducible and accurate, and the data evaluation protocols must be rigorous and appropriate.The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the use of pollutant profiles in order to assess complex patterns of environmental exposure. When combined with multivariate data analysis (MVDA) a maximum of information may be extracted from analytical data. Nevertheless, good quality data is essential for correct evaluation of the environmental phenomena under investigation. The precision and accuracy of a solid phase assisted liquid extraction method was therefore assessed by comparison to a reference method. The validated method was used in two human exposure studies. The concentrations of PCBs and dioxins were determined in human tissues from general populations in Sweden and Spain. Although it was concluded that the populations were exposed to similar degree to PCBs and dioxins, principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the compound profiles differed between the populations. PCA was also used to differentiate between occupationally exposed workers and matched controls and between exposed workers with recent and earlier exposure. In addition, the analysis indicated that the differences in PCB patterns in workers with recent and earlier exposure were related to differences in the metabolic degradation rates of individual PCBs. The PCA model was further used to select PCB congeners that were representative of each group.Finally, the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a traffic tunnel was estimated by measuring 29 individual PAHs. The sampling periods were chosen to reflect a maximum variation in the traffic composition. An excellent prediction of the percentage of heavy-duty vehicles was obtained using partial least squares (PLS) regression. It was shown by PCA that it might be possible to predict source compositions at other locations with the aid of multivariate statistical tools. Thus, properly gathered pollutant profiles and MVDA may be combined to extract a large amount of significant information from environmental source and exposure data.
|
|
| 9. |
- Zoeller, R. Thomas, et al.
(författare)
-
A path forward in the debate over health impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Environmental Health. - 1476-069X. ; 13, s. 118-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several recent publications reflect debate on the issue of "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs), indicating that two seemingly mutually exclusive perspectives are being articulated separately and independently. Considering this, a group of scientists with expertise in basic science, medicine and risk assessment reviewed the various aspects of the debate to identify the most significant areas of dispute and to propose a path forward. We identified four areas of debate. The first is about the definitions for terms such as "endocrine disrupting chemical", "adverse effects", and "endocrine system". The second is focused on elements of hormone action including "potency", "endpoints", "timing", "dose" and "thresholds". The third addresses the information needed to establish sufficient evidence of harm. Finally, the fourth focuses on the need to develop and the characteristics of transparent, systematic methods to review the EDC literature. Herein we identify areas of general consensus and propose resolutions for these four areas that would allow the field to move beyond the current and, in our opinion, ineffective debate.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
