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As part of France’s Second National Endocrine Disruptor Strategy (SNPE 2), ANSES (The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) published on April 15, 2021, a list of 906 substances of interest because of their potential endocrine action, associated with a prioritization strategy and a method to classify them as a proven, supposed or suspected endocrine disruptor.
France is the first country to have had a National Endocrine Disruptor Strategy aiming to reduce exposure of the population and the environment to endocrine disruptors.
Assessing their health effects is therefore a scientific challenge and an important public health issue. ANSES is one of the major players in this area. It carries out important assessment work to identify endocrine-disrupting substances.
How has this list of 906 substances of interest been established by ANSES?
ANSES compared the existing international lists of substances and the methods used, in order to compile a rigorous list of the substances of interest for which the data available are sufficient to consider an assessment based on the three points set out by the WHO (World Health Organization).
According to the WHO definition, a substance is recognised as an endocrine disruptor if it meets the three conditions below:
- adverse effects on health
- altering one or more of the functions of the endocrine system
- a biologically plausible link between these two findings
The list of 906 substances of interest is available here:
https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/REACH2019SA0179Anx-1.xlsx
In order to evaluate the impact on the perfumery sector, IFRA (International Fragrance Association) compared the list from ANSES (906 substances) with the IFRA Transparency List, which identifies all the ingredients used in perfumery. It results in 105 common substances between both lists.
ANSES is putting forward a methodology to establish an operational categorisation of endocrine disruptors:
ANSES underlines the need to be able to make a distinction between “known,” “presumed” and “suspected” endocrine disruptors, following an assessment.
The categories defined by ANSES would be based on the probability of a substance being an endocrine disruptor:
- Known: substances that are highly probable endocrine disruptors (probability of over 90%)
- Presumed: substances that are strongly suspected of being endocrine disruptors, but with no certainty (probability of between 66% and 90%)
- Suspected: substances for which information received is concerning but not sufficient for clear judgement (probability of between 5% and 66%)
By providing a graduated result, this methodology should make it possible to vary the applicable rules in accordance with the uses and population groups exposed.
Last but not least, discussions are under way to create a hazard class for endocrine disruptors as part of the European CLP Regulation (Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures).
If you want further information about the scientific projects/studies on endocrine disruptors currently in progress all around the world, please reach out to us via email: regulatory@jesozio.com or through your designated Sales Representative.
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