Ecological risk assessment of endocrine disruptors

The European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals proposes a tiered approach for the ecological risk assessment of endocrine disruptor s, integrating exposure and hazard (effects) characterization. Exposure ass essment for endocrine disrupters should direct specific tests for wildlife species, placing hazard data into a risk assessment context. Supplementing the suite of mammalian screens now under Organization for Economic Cooperat ion and Development (OECD) validation, high priority should be given to dev eloping a fish screening assay for detecting endocrine activity in oviparou s species. Taking into account both exposure characterization and alerts fr om endocrine screening, higher tier tests are also a priority for defining adverse effects. We propose that in vivo mammalian and fish assays provide a comprehensive screening battery for diverse hormonal functions (including androgen, estrogen, and thyroid hormone), whereas Amphibia should be consi dered at higher tiers if there are exposure concerns. Higher tier endocrine -disrupter resting should include fish development and fish reproduction te sts, whereas a full life-cycle test could be subsequently used to refine aq uatic risk assessments when necessary. For avian risk assessment, the new O ECD Japanese quail reproduction test guideline provides a valuable basis fo r developing a test to detecting endocrine-mediated reproductive effects; t his species could be used, where necessary, for an avian life-cycle test. F or aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, data from existing developmental and reproductive tests remain of high value for ecological risk assessment. High priority should be given to research into comparative endocrine physi ology of invertebrates to support data extrapolation to this diverse fauna.