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EPA Awards $2.25 Million in Grants to Investigate Low-dose Effects of Endocrine Disruptors
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Washington, D.C. - Dr. Larry Reiter, Director of EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, today announced $2.25 million in grant awards to three universities to investigate and characterize the nature of the dose-response to endocrine disrupting chemicals in animal models. The grants focus on the possible effects of low levels of cadmium on puberty and the neurodevelopmental effects of chemicals that affect the thyroid. The announcement was made at a meeting with EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The grants were awarded through EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) research grants program.
“These researchers will work with doses of endocrine disrupting chemicals that are below those typically used in standard toxicology tests,” said Dr. Reiter. “The advantage is that these levels approximate what we actually find in the environment. This body of research should help us understand what factors influence how an organism responds to these exposures.”
The endocrine system in humans and wildlife regulates all biological processes in the body from conception through adulthood and into old age, including the development of the brain and nervous system, the growth and function of the reproductive system, as well as the metabolism and blood sugar levels. Endocrine disrupting chemicals or endocrine disruptors can disturb the endocrine system in various ways. Some chemicals mimic a natural hormone, fooling the body into over-responding to the stimulus or responding at inappropriate times. Other endocrine disrupting chemicals block the effects of a hormone from certain receptors. Still others directly stimulate or inhibit the endocrine system and cause overproduction or underproduction of hormones.
Because the endocrine system plays a critical role in normal growth, development, and reproduction, even small disturbances in endocrine function could have profound and lasting effects. This is especially true during highly sensitive prenatal periods when small changes in endocrine status could cause delayed consequences that are evident much later in adult life or in a subsequent generation.
There is limited scientific information about the nature of the dose-response to endocrine disrupting chemicals at levels that approximate those in the environment. The research supported by these grants will seek to characterize the effects of low-dose exposures following in utero or early postnatal exposures to endocrine disruptors. The projects focus on the estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormone systems, which are two of the areas of focus of the EPA’s Endocrine Disruptors Screening Program (http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/) designed to screen and test chemicals for potential endocrine disruption.
The grants were awarded to the following universities:
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., $740,000 – Scientists will study the effects of in utero exposure to cadmium on puberty.
University of Georgia, Athens, Ga., $750,000 – Researchers will help develop the methodology to understand the molecular effects of hypothyroidism during pregnancy on the development of the nervous system in offspring.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass., $740,000 – Researchers will identify critical factors that influence dose-response between thyroid hormones and the health endpoints that rely on normal thyroid function.
For more information about these grants, see: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/357. Additional information about the STAR research grants program can be found at: www.epa.gov/ncer.
EPA relies on quality science as the basis for sound policy and decision-making. EPA’s laboratories, research centers, and grantees are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency’s mission to safeguard human health and the environment.