(fwd) CDC & NIH Join in Testing Exposure of Americans to Env. Estrogens..

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

  NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences


  EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
  Monday, November 24, 1997
  7:00 AM Eastern Time


NIEHS contact:


Bill Grigg


(919) 541-2605


Tom Hawkins

(
919) 541-1402



CDC contact:


Charlis Thompson

(
404) 639-3286


                                              CDC and NIH Join in Testing
     Exposure of Americans to Environmental Estrogens and Other
                                                                   Chemicals

              NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the
              Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
              Environmental Health have launched a study of blood and urine
              samples to determine the amount of exposure that Americans have
              to environmental estrogens.

              In sufficient amounts, these chemicals can act like the female
              hormone estrogen. Although the effects of any exposure are
unknown,
              some scientists have suggested that environmental estrogens might
              be reducing sperm counts in men and causing breast cancer,
fibroids
              and other reproductive diseases in women. At present, scientists
              know little about which of the environmental estrogens people are
              exposed to and how much exposure they have. The study underway by
              NIH and CDC will address these questions.

              Richard J. Jackson, M.D., director of CDC's National Center for
              Environmental Health, said, "This kind of assessment of
exposure to
              environmental estrogens is absolutely critical to the
scientifically
              credible assessment of potential health risk from these compounds.
              The study builds on CDC's longstanding expertise in measuring
toxic
              substances in people's blood and urine and is a valuable
public health
              collaboration with NIEHS."

              Kenneth Olden, Ph.D.,director of both NIEHS and the National
              Toxicology Program, which is headquartered at NIEHS, said, "The
              study will help us develop priorities for studying the potential
              adverse health effects of exposure to environmental estrogens. We
              hope this kind of collaboration will be expanded in the future to
              address many other toxic substances that we know or suspect cause
              cancer, reproductive, and other health effects."

              The NIEHS and NTP are providing $2.1 million to CDC to measure
              approximately 50 environmental estrogens in 200 persons to
              determine levels of exposure to the population. CDC and NIEHS will
              jointly agree on the final list of environmental estrogens to be
              measured in people. Among the more familiar chemicals that will be
              tested for are: insecticides such as arsenic, dieldrin,
mirex, lindane,
              parathion and DDT and its metabolites; herbicides such as 2,4-D,
              alachlor and atrazine; nematocides such as aldicarb; fungicides,
              plant and fungal estrogens, and industrial chemicals such as
              cadmium, lead, mercury, PCBs and dioxins. CDC will use existing
              analytical methods for blood and urine to measure most of the
              chemicals and develop new analytical methods to measure 10 to 20
              of the environmental estrogens.

              The coordinator for this research for NIEHS and NTP, George
Lucier,
              Ph.D., said, "This project will give us an idea of human
exposure to
              each of the chemicals and help us set priorities for the
studies done
              in the National Toxicology Program. Comparing the levels with
other
              health and toxicity data, we should be able to determine if
some of
              the higher exposures we find are linked to increased incidences of
              disease."

              By measuring chemicals in people's blood and urine, scientists can
              determine what chemicals Americans are being exposed to, how
              much exposure is occurring to each chemical, what population
groups
              are at high risk of excessive exposure, and whether interventions
              aimed at reducing exposure to a chemical have actually been
              effective and reduced the chemical level in people.

              For example, blood lead measurements obtained as part of the
              National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted by
              CDC's National Center for Health Statistics have documented a more
              than 78% reduction in lead in the U.S. population, since
99.8% of lead
              has been removed from gasoline and lead is no longer used in food
              and drink cans in the U.S. Similar assessments could be made for
              other toxic substances to determine whether the U.S. populations'
              exposure is increasing or decreasing. This exposure information
              helps prioritize public health efforts in environmental health and
              direct toxicologic research towards exposures of most health
              concern.