Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: From Basic Research to Clinical Practice, is an aptly named volume comprising chapters that detail numerous aspects of endocrine disruptors from the perspectives of scientists, epidemiologists, and medical practitioners. Each group has its own scope and focus, but all are ultimately intertwined by a common goal of understanding what is necessary to ensure optimal...

The European Commission (EC) has missed a unique opportunity to develop a regulatory system that sets new standards in the protection against endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The proposed amendments to the European Union (EU) pesticide law and the criteria for the identification of endocrine disruptors that the EC published on June 15, 2016, after a delay of almost 3 years, ensure that hardly an...

The major concerns with endocrine disruptors in the environment are based mostly on effects that have been observed on the developing embryo and fetus. The focus of the present manuscript is on disruption of three hormonal systems: estrogens, androgens, and thyroid hormones. These three hormonal systems have been well characterized with regard to their roles in normal development, and their act...

The specialized literature was reviewed concerning the suspected increasing secular trends in the frequency of female births, male genital congenital anomalies, abnormal sperm counts, and testicular cancer. Although no risk factors could be identified yet, the observed sex ratio decline during the last decades has been considered to be an effect of certain pollutants on normal hormone activity,...

The author discusses the extreme relevance of research on the presence of endocrine disruptors (EDs) in products of interest to health surveillance (HS). Focusing on EDs, the author highlights the urgency of changes already under way in the direction of HS. The shift should be from product and product-registration approaches to the productive process and its realization in consumption, generati...

After serving on a panel convened by the U.S. EPA on epidemiological studies needed for evaluation of possible health risks of MTBE as a fuel additive, I feel that the article is quite informative and will no doubt be useful for those contemplating further use of oxygenated fuels. There are two matters that I feel are of some importance , and about them the article is silent. First, the report ...

Endocrine disruptors are substances commonly encountered in every setting and condition in the modern world. It is virtually impossible to avoid the contact with these chemical compounds in our daily life. Molecules defined as endocrine disruptors constitute an extremely heterogeneous group and include synthetic chemicals used as industrial solvents/lubricants and their by-products. Natural che...