Review of the Environmental Protection Agency's State-of-the-Science Evaluation of Nonmonotonic Dose-Response Relationships as They Apply to Endocrine Disruptors

Review of the Environmental Protection Agency's State-of-the-Science Evaluation of Nonmonotonic Dose-Response Relationships as They Apply to Endocrine Disruptors Synopsis

"Potential health effects from chemicals that disrupt endocrine function pose an environmental health concern because of their ability to interfere with normal hormone function in human and wildlife populations. The endocrine system regulates biological processes throughout the body and is sensitive to small changes in hormone concentrations. Endocrine-disruptor research has focused primarily on chemicals that affect three hormone pathways that play important roles in reproduction and development - the estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormone pathways. Some of this research has identified dose-response relationships that have nonmonotonic curves. Nonmonotonic dose-response curves (NMDRs) are of concern because they do not follow the usual assumption made in toxicology that as dose decreases the response also decreases. The existence of NMDRs has been a controversial topic for decades, and there has been considerable debate about their im