EDC-MixRisk – Safe chemicals for future generations

EDC-MixRisk project will organize a session “Integrating epidemiology and experimental toxicology to understand the risk of endocrine disrupting chemical mixtures on children” at the EUROTOX 2018 Congress which takes place in Brussels, 2-5 September 2018.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and potential EDCs are found in various materials such as personal care products, pesticides, metals, additives or contaminants in food. A large body of evidence supports associations between exposure to chemicals and endocrine disrupting effects, leading to disorders in humans and wildlife. There is a need to handle EDCs according to the risks they pose, as single chemicals or as mixtures. This involves selection, refinement and development of tools for risk assessment of EDC mixtures to bring current procedures to a level where they can support proper risk management.

The session will give examples on how to determine and assess the risk for multiple adverse health outcomes based on molecular mechanisms involved, after early life exposure to complex mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The session will present a new approach for identification of mixtures of EDCs that are associated with multiple adverse health outcomes in three health domains (growth and metabolism, neurodevelopment and sexual development) using epidemiological pregnancy cohort studies and via the application of novel and advanced bio-statistical methods to identify and prioritize chemical mixtures of concern. Experimental investigations in animal and cell models have thereafter been used in the project to test the mixtures in order to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying the effects seen in the epidemiological studies.

Furthermore, mixture effects on mesenchymal stem cell differentiation in relation to low birth weight and obesity later in life will be discussed at the session, as well as the transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) during differentiation into neural progenitors exposed to EDC mixtures. The interdisciplinary approach, integrating epidemiology and experimental evidence, will facilitate assessment of risk and contribute to better risk management for EDCs and their mixtures.

EUROTOX 2018 homepage: http://www.eurotox-congress.com/2018/