Tiered Protocol for Sussing Out Endocrine Disruption

A team of experts in biology, chemistry, and toxicology has developed a protocol to help industrial scientists detect endocrinedisrupting tendencies early in the chemical development process. What sets the Tiered Protocol for Endocrine Disruption (TiPED) apart from the protocols typically used to assess product safety is its incorporation of what the authors believe to be the best assays for detecting effects on the endocrine system. TiPED offers industry what coauthor John Warner, president of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, calls an “à la carte palette of assays . . . that have been vetted by the environmental health community.” The protocol was inspired by demand from consumers for safer materials, as well as from chemists and companies wishing to meet that demand, according to the authors. It starts with the fastest, simplest, cheapest tests and progresses to increasingly complex, expensive assays to identify endocrine activity—an issue the authors say is not currently addressed by U.S. chemical regulations. The authors