Résumé :
|
Global concerns have been raised in recent years over the potentialadverse effects that may result from exposure to chemicals that havethe potential to interfere with the endocrine system. Wildlife andhuman health effects of EDCs were first proclaimed by Rachel Carson in 1962and based on a growing body of knowledge those concerns have increased.This concern regarding endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is directed atboth humans and wildlife. In response to these concerns, the Second Session(February 1997) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety made anumber of recommendations to the Member Organization of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC),notably IPCS and OECD, concerning approaches and means for coordinatingand/or supporting efforts to address the issues internationally, including thedevelopment of an international inventory of research and coordinated test-ing and assessment strategies. This endorsed earlier recommendations froman international workshop at the Smithsonian (January 1997) and was fol-lowed by the 1997 Declaration of the Environmental Leaders of the Eight onChildren's Environmental Health, which specifically addressed the issue ofEDCs in their declaration. The environment leaders encouraged continuingefforts to compile an international inventory of research activities, developan international assessment of the state-of-the-science, identify and priori-tize research needs and data gaps, and develop a mechanism for coordinat-ing and cooperating on filling of the research needs. The Fiftieth WorldHealth Assembly adopted resolution WHO 50.13 in 1997, which called uponthe Director-General of WHO to "take the necessary steps to reinforce WHOleadership in undertaking risk assessment as a basis for tackling high priority problems as they emerge, and in promoting and coordinating related research, for example, on potential endocrine-related health effectsof exposure to chemicals." In response to these recommendations, the WHO/UNEP/ILO InternationalProgramme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) assumed responsibility for developingthis global assessment of the current state of scientific knowledge relative toenvironmental endocrine disruption. Concurrently, IPCS assisted in thedevelopment of a Global Endocrine Disruptor Research Inventory, whichserves as a tool to foster complementary research efforts and identifystrengths and weaknesses of current global research efforts. (4e de couv.)
|