Abstract/Summary

This mini-review offers a historical perspective on the emergence of endocrine disruption as a multidisciplinary research area, encompassing studies from ecotoxicology to medicine and from field observations to molecular cell biology. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are environmental compounds which interfere in the actions of hormones. Some are naturally occurring, but the majority are man-made compounds which have been released without prior knowledge of their impact on animal or human health. Reduction in environmental contamination with EDCs requires regulatory actions at international, national and individual levels. However, the ability of EDCs to act through receptor-mediated mechanisms at low concentrations, often with nonmonotonic dose responses and additively as mixtures, and to act with cellspecific and lifestyle-specific effects poses a considerable challenge to risk assessment.