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The endocrine disruptor issue is one of the fields that require
particularly careful risk communication, because of
discrepancies in perceptions in the public due to widespread
public interest, disagreeing research results and technological
advances.
Compared with common substances, of which mechanisms of adverse
actions have largely been understood by conventional toxicology,
endocrine disruptors are more difficult to comprehend because of
the following features, making application of existing
guidelines for risk communication also difficult:
- The underlying hypothesis presented is beyond the conventional
scope of adverse effects of chemicals.
- The hypothesis is difficult to check, while it means a great
thereat if it is true.
- Studies for verification of hypothesis have yielded so far
discrepant results.
- Some results that were unpredictable by the conventional
toxicology (e.g. the inverse U effect) have been reported.
Another problem about endocrine disruptors is that the endocrine
disruption itself has not actually been confirmed in humans,
except pharmacology of synthetic hormone preparations. This
makes it difficult to apply existing guidelines which are
designed for substances of which the nature of toxicity is
already known.
Implementation of risk communication on endocrine disruptors
should take these problems into account.
2.2 Persons concerned in risk communication
Persons concerned in risk communication include the
administration (chiefly the Ministry of Health, Labor and
Welfare), public1, enterprises, specialists/researchers and
journalists.
Specialists/researchers play a key role as the information
source.
1
Means general consumers. |
