The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability: an opportunity to develop new approaches for hazard and risk assessment

Article Environmental Sciences

Contribution of prenatal endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure to genital anomalies in males: The pooled results from current evidence

Yuhao Wu et al.

Summary: Research suggests that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may increase the risk of hypospadias in males, though the relationship with cryptorchidism remains inconclusive.

CHEMOSPHERE (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Engineering, Environmental

Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities

Linn Persson et al.

Summary: This article suggests that the safe operating space of the planetary boundary for novel entities is exceeded due to the increasing production and releases exceeding the global capacity for assessment and monitoring. Plastic pollution is highlighted as a major concern. The article presents an impact pathway from the production of novel entities to their impacts on Earth system processes and proposes several criteria for control variables. Urgent action is recommended to reduce the harm associated with exceeding the boundary by reducing the production and releases of novel entities.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

From cohorts to molecules: Adverse impacts of endocrine disrupting mixtures

Nicolo Caporale et al.

Summary: This study found that exposure to EDC mixtures during early pregnancy is associated with language delay in offspring. The experimental results showed that at human-relevant concentrations, this mixture disrupts hormone-regulated and disease-relevant regulatory networks in the brain, as well as behavioral responses. Reanalyzing epidemiological data, it was found that up to 54% of children had prenatal exposures above experimentally derived levels of concern, resulting in a 3.3 times higher risk of language delay compared to the lowest decile of exposure.

SCIENCE (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Environmental Sciences

One planet: one health. A call to support the initiative on a global science-policy body on chemicals and waste

Werner Brack et al.

Summary: A suggestion to establish an international science-policy body has been made to address the severe threats of chemical pollution crisis. Immediate action is crucial and should be informed by reliable scientific knowledge and data. Challenges for such a body include global knowledge production, coverage of all hazardous chemicals, a one-health perspective, and solution-oriented assessments based on systems thinking.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE (2022)

Add to Collection

Review Environmental Sciences

Receptor-based in vitro activities to assess human exposure to chemical mixtures and related health impacts

Anne Marie Vinggaard et al.

Summary: Human exposure to chemical mixtures from various sources may pose risks to health, especially during critical periods of development. Traditional one-chemical-at-a-time approaches have limited understanding of the combined effects of mixtures. Researchers are now using in vitro assays to assess exposure and health impacts of chemical mixtures, providing a more comprehensive understanding of their effects on human health.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Multiple stressors determine river ecological status at the European scale: Towards an integrated understanding of river status deterioration

Jan U. Lemm et al.

Summary: The biota of European rivers are influenced by a variety of stressors, with alterations in hydro-morphology, nutrient enrichment, and toxic substances being the most significant factors. The interaction between these stressors plays a crucial role in influencing the ecological status of the rivers. This highlights the importance of implementing comprehensive management strategies at the catchment scale to achieve good ecological status in European surface waters.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Review Environmental Sciences

Chemical pollution: A growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity

Ravi Naidu et al.

Summary: Anthropogenic chemical pollution has the potential to threaten humanity's environmental health significantly; however, global understanding of this issue remains fragmented. There are serious gaps in our understanding of the scale of the threat and the risks posed by the dispersal, mixture, and recombination of chemicals in the wider environment. Despite the existence of pollution control measures, they are often not being implemented at the necessary rate to prevent chronic and acute effects on human health.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2021)

Add to Collection

Editorial Material Multidisciplinary Sciences

We need a global science-policy body on chemicals and waste

Zhanyun Wang et al.

SCIENCE (2021)

Add to Collection

Review Environmental Sciences

Unravelling the chemical exposome in cohort studies: routes explored and steps to become comprehensive

Sebastian Huhn et al.

Summary: Environmental factors and genetic predisposition contribute to the risk for adverse health outcomes; chemical exposures may substantially impact disease risk and adverse outcomes; exposomics explore the links between chemical exposure and health outcomes, capturing a comprehensive picture of the environmental chemical exposome and identifying associations for novel risk assessment and intervention.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE (2021)

Add to Collection

Review Endocrinology & Metabolism

Life-Time Environmental Chemical Exposure and Obesity: Review of Epidemiological Studies Using Human Biomonitoring Methods

Nayan Chandra Mohanto et al.

Summary: The review compiled human epidemiological study findings of associations between blood and/or urinary exposure levels of environmental chemicals and anthropometric overweight and obesity indices, revealing research gaps that should be addressed. Evidence explicitly reveals the consistent obesogenic roles of chemical compounds like BPA, DDE, and PFOA, but inconsistent roles of phthalate metabolites and other POPs. Further prospective studies may yield deeper insights into the overall scenario.

FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Engineering, Environmental

Pesticides are the dominant stressors for vulnerable insects in lowland streams

Matthias Liess et al.

Summary: Agricultural nonpointsource pesticide pollution is a major driver in reducing vulnerable insect populations in aquatic invertebrate communities, exceeding the relevance of other anthropogenic stressors. The current authorization of pesticides underestimates the actual ecological risk and needs to include monitoring-derived information on pesticide effects at the ecosystem level for adequate environmental quality objectives.

WATER RESEARCH (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Chemistry, Multidisciplinary

First Steps Toward Sustainable Circular Uses of Chemicals: Advancing the Assessment and Management Paradigm

Zhanyun Wang et al.

Summary: The article proposes embedding the concept of circularity into chemical production practices by introducing considerations for multiple use cycles and a sustainable circularity assessment stage, aiming to facilitate a transition towards sustainable circular use of chemicals.

ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Environmental Sciences

The EU Green Deal's ambition for a toxic-free environment: Filling the gap for science-based policymaking

Joanke van Dijk et al.

Summary: Despite the implementation of many ambitious environmental conventions and regulations globally, the environment continues to deteriorate. In response to this, the EU published a chemicals strategy for sustainability in October 2020, aiming to address chemical pollution in a holistic manner. However, the lack of a clear definition for key terms, such as toxic-free environment, in the strategy could potentially hinder its implementation.

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT (2021)

Add to Collection

Letter Toxicology

Scientific discrepancies in European regulatory proposals on endocrine disruptors-REACH regulation quo vadis?

Andreas Natsch

Summary: The EU chemical strategy prioritizes endocrine-disrupting chemicals, emphasizing increased testing and a ban on their use in consumer products. However, there is diverging views within European scientific bodies on the low-dose non-monotonic dose response effects of these chemicals, potentially leading to increased animal testing.

ARCHIVES OF TOXICOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Letter Toxicology

The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability: in support of the BfR position

Frank A. Barile et al.

Summary: The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability emphasizes the need for further regulation due to threats to human health and the environment. Concerns were raised by the German BfR regarding the scientific justification for this strategy. Any initiatives to improve consumer protection must be based on scientific knowledge and avoid confounding risk with other factors in policy-making.

ARCHIVES OF TOXICOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Editorial Material Toxicology

The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability questions regulatory toxicology as we know it: is it all rooted in sound scientific evidence?

Matthias Herzler et al.

ARCHIVES OF TOXICOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Medicine, Research & Experimental

Upholding the EU's Commitment to 'Animal Testing as a Last Resort' Under REACH Requires a Paradigm Shift in How We Assess Chemical Safety to Close the Gap Between Regulatory Testing and Modern Safety Science

Julia Fentem et al.

Summary: Despite advances in non-animal safety science, animal use for testing chemicals under REACH is increasing. Thought leaders in human health and environmental protection are urging the European Commission to embrace modern and innovative non-animal safety science to lead safe and sustainable innovation under the European Green Deal.

ATLA-ALTERNATIVES TO LABORATORY ANIMALS (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Engineering, Environmental