Chems industry claims major input to endocrine screening progress

23 September 2009 17:07  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--The chemical industry's Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) has played a key part in the development of globally harmonised screening guidelines for endocrine disrupters, European trade group Cefic said on Wednesday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) adopted five endocrine screening test guidelines in September and, according to Cefic,  has made significant progress on endocrine disrupters, substances which may impact hormone systems.

The industry funded, through the LRI, several research studies to refine and validate four assays included in the OECD's endocrine disrupter testing and assessment programme.

“From the outset, our industry has been engaged in close cooperation with academia and the authorities and has dedicated years of commitment and hard work to the endocrine issue," said Cefic's research and innovation executive director, Gernot Klotz,

"We can safely say that without LRI’s input in developing globally-accepted and validated scientific test methods, this debate would still be languishing in emotional rhetoric – which, in the end, does not advance consumer safety."

The guidelines will serve as internationally-agreed test methods used by government, industry and independent laboratories to determine the safety of chemicals and chemical preparations.

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By: Franco Capaldo
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