What Still Needs To Be Done?

By Katy Califf

There are many unanswered questions remaining in the field of endocrine disruption. While mass screening for endocrine disruptors may help to identify them-more action needs to be taken. Testing is done in labs, or sometimes on captive animals, but what is happening in the field? Assessment of this is just beginning.

Results from vast screening needs to be applied to the life histories of specific organisms. While screening or testing these chemicals may tell what kinds of effects they have, in many instances, testing is not done to show if it is true endocrine disruption, or is just toxic.

Once a chemical is proven to be an endocrine disruptor, it needs to be known if animals or humans are actually exposed to it. Major die-offs or deformities are obvious, but what about the less glaring effects? Slight behavioral changes can have major impacts on population structure. The more inconspicuous effects are the ones that are likely to remain hidden until it is too late to do anything.

There are many research programs in progress, but more needs to be done. It is too late to erase what has been done in the past, but it is not too late for us to learn from our mistakes to prevent any future mistakes.

Major questions that need to be answered:

• What is happening in the field?

• How can field effects be assessed?

• What are the slight effects (e.g. behavioral)?

• Is a chemical a true endocrine disruptor or is it toxic?

• Are humans are wildlife actually exposed to a certain chemical?

• Can wildlife effects be extrapolated to humans?

• Where is exposure occurring?

Once these and other questions are answered: What are we going to do about it?