HUMAN EXPOSURE TO ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS - ASSESSING THE TOTAL ESTROGENIC XENOBIOTIC BURDEN

A relationship has been hypothesized between adverse effects on human and wildlife reproductive health and a number of chemical substances c apable of altering hormonal homeostasis. A testing system to screen fo r endocrine activities and the development of appropriate biomarkers o f cumulative exposure are required. This article reports the work of o ur group in the following areas: (i) the identification of chemical ag ents with estrogenic hormonal activity, (ii) existing evidence on form s and sources of human exposure, and (iii) developing a methodology to assess the total estrogenic burden, defined as the estrogenic activit y in a bioassay of human samples from which ovarian estrogens have bee n previously eliminated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.