In advance of International Women’s Day on 8th March, CHEM Trust sat down with Marie Louise Holmer, Special Consultant at the Research Group for Molecular and Reproductive Toxicology, DTU National Food Institute in Denmark, to highlight her work in toxicology and endocrine disruptors (EDs). We discuss what inspired her to start working on EDs and what the EU needs to do to address people’s exposure to them. We also discuss the MERLON project, an EU-funded research project that brings together world-leading experts across Europe to explore how EDs affect health and to develop tools for identifying and regulating them.
What inspired you to start working on endocrine disruptors and health?
Since I was a teenager, I’ve had a very strong drive to protect nature and wildlife. I therefore chose to study Biology. During my studies, I became fascinated by toxicology, which explores the interactions between pollution and negative effects on human health. I did my master’s thesis on human health effects of endocrine disruptors (EDs), and I started a student job in the Chemicals Division of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. After graduating, I continued my work there, focusing on human health effects, the regulation of EDs, combination effects, and the development of test methods. The continuous development, increasing complexity and urgent need for policy decisions and regulation continue to fascinate me.
Throughout your career, what progress have you seen in the identification and regulation of endocrine disruptors?
When I started working with EDs in the early 2000s, there were very few tests that could capture endocrine disrupting effects, no criteria for EDs in regulation, and no means to formally identify them.
Since then, a lot of progress has been made. Over the years, new test methods have been developed to assess specific effects relevant to endocrine disruption. In the EU, it has now become possible to identify EDs. First, as Substances of Very High Concern under the REACH Regulation, then by the implementation of scientific criteria in the Biocide and Pesticide Regulations, and most recently with the introduction of new ED hazard classes under the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation.
This is huge. It paves the way for effectively minimising exposure to this problematic group of substances as long as the political will and regulatory focus are maintained.
You are very involved in the EU research project MERLON. What have the key findings been so far?
One key finding is that although it is now possible to identify EDs under EU regulation, current EU laws do not properly protect people against exposure to endocrine disruptors because most substances have not been tested or assessed thoroughly for ED effects.
In MERLON, we highlight ways to improve efficiency in identifying EDs, which is a first step towards greater protection. For example, grouping and read across can be readily used to identify endocrine disruptors. A proposal to identify a group of phthalates as EDs has just been put forward, and this is great to see, since it is much more efficient than classifying the substances one by one. In addition, since most substances are not tested thoroughly for endocrine disrupting effects, it is important to make use of all available information, also across species.
What do you think the EU needs to do to protect people and wildlife from endocrine disruptors?
To better protect people, there are obvious steps that can be taken. Now that the criteria for identifying EDs under the CLP Regulation are in place, a maximum effort should be put into classifying all endocrine disruptors on the market – most effectively through classifications of relevant groups of substances. The downstream consequences of the CLP regulation should also be tightened, so that substances that are classified as EDs are appropriately regulated to protect people and the environment from exposure.
What do you think citizens need to know about endocrine disruptors?
Everyone should acknowledge that current regulations do not protect us from EDs. We are exposed to many different substances from many different sources, and they act together to induce combination effects.
The best thing one can do, and especially when you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, is to reduce your general exposure to chemicals in daily life to the greatest extent possible. That can be done by following some basic advice, such as using as few cosmetics and personal care products as possible, opting for products with environmental labels, and cleaning your home and ventilating it regularly.
For more information on the MERLON project, take a look at the project website, and read their interview with Marie Louise Holmer.
