Endocrine Abstracts

The Daily Tolerable Intake (DTI) was reduced by BPA (bisphenol A) 100,000 fold. This is an unprecedented action to protect consumers and the environment from the most commonly used plasticizer. However, one problem identified was the fact that regrettable substitutes, such as BPS and BPF, were not included in the recommendation. There will be a fight to ensure that this passes into the European legislation. In the meantime, BP-B (,4’-(1-methylpropylidene) bisphenol (a substitute for BPA) and a sunscreen agent 4-MBC were proposed to be endocrine disruptors. Resorcinol was identified as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC). This was primarily due to its effects on the thyroid and other endocrine systems. GenX produced by Chemours lost their suit. Chemours had taken the EU Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to court over the inclusion of GenX chemicals in the SVHC list under REACH – the main EU law used to stop chemical pollution. Already, a multitude of other PFAS, per (and poly) fluoroalkyl substances are classed as SVHCs, mainly due to their mobility and persistence. Next, the question of mixtures. As we showed in our paper ‘From Cohorts to Molecules’ (https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.abe8244) the thyroid gland was among those endocrine systems affected. We showed the mixture of 8 chemicals affected language delay in children at 30 months and at 7 years of age. Given that in the US current figures for autism spectrum disorder have reached 1 in 44 children and the thyroid axis is needed for brain development the two could be linked.