Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Centre for Human Exposure Science (CHES), Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun 11;15(6):1229. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15061229.
Endocrine disruptors (EDs) belong to large and diverse groups of agents that may cause multiple biological effects associated with, for example, hormone imbalance and infertility, chronic diseases such as diabetes, genome damage and cancer. The health risks related with the exposure to EDs are typically underestimated, less well characterized, and not regulated to the same extent as, for example, carcinogens. The increased production and utilization of identified or suspected EDs in many different technological processes raises new challenges with respect to occupational exposure settings and associated health risks. Due to the specific profile of health risk, occupational exposure to EDs demands a new paradigm in health risk assessment, redefinition of exposure assessment, new effects biomarkers for occupational health surveillance and definition of limit values. The construction and plastics industries are among the strongest economic sectors, employing millions of workers globally. They also use large quantities of chemicals that are known or suspected EDs. Focusing on these two industries, this short communication discusses: (a) why occupational exposure to EDs needs a more specific approach to occupational health risk assessments, (b) identifies the current knowledge gaps, and
内分泌干扰物（EDs）属于大量不同的物质，这些物质可能会导致多种生物效应，例如激素失衡和不育、糖尿病等慢性疾病、基因组损伤和癌症。与接触 EDs 相关的健康风险通常被低估，特征描述较差，而且不像致癌物那样受到同等程度的监管。在许多不同的技术过程中，已确定或疑似 EDs 的产量和使用增加，这给职业暴露环境和相关健康风险带来了新的挑战。由于健康风险的特定特征，职业接触 EDs 需要在健康风险评估、暴露评估的重新定义、职业健康监测的新效应生物标志物和限值定义方面采用新的范例。建筑和塑料行业是全球就业人数最多的强劲经济部门之一。它们还使用大量已知或疑似为 EDs 的化学品。本文重点讨论了这两个行业：(a) 为什么职业接触 EDs 需要对职业健康风险评估采取更具体的方法，(b) 确定了当前的知识差距。
