Calabrese E J, Baldwin L A, Kostecki P T, Potter T L
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA.
Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1997 Aug;26(1 Pt 1):36-40. doi: 10.1006/rtph.1997.1115.
A toxicologically based predictive scheme is presented for quantitatively ranking chemical agents with respect to their capacity to ensure endocrine disruption in target species based on short-term bioassays. Criteria providing the predictive framework include: (1) endocrine disruption as a multistage process, (2) phylogenetic considerations, (3) model system, and (4) estrogenic potency. Relative rankings were calculated for 15 environmentally relevant agents reported to have endocrine-disrupting effects. The relative ranking process offers a procedure for assessing the potential of endocrine disruption and for identifying data gaps for specific chemical agents. Although the current scheme is limited to "estrogenic" agents, it is anticipated that future refinements (e.g., incorporation of antiestrogenic potency data) will improve the system.
