Overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the presence of infinitesimally small quantities of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the womb can interfere with the normal signaling systems that determine every aspect of embryonic and fetal development. Disorders that have increased in prevalence in recent years such as abnormal male gonadal development, infertility, ADHD, autism, diabetes, thyroid disorders and childhood and/or adult cancers are now being linked to fetal exposure. The discovery of prenatal effects from EDCs threw a monkey wrench in the current system of evaluating the safety of chemicals for the protection of public health.
On this call hosted by CHE-Alaska, Dr. Carol Kwiatkowski, executive director and senior research associate at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) led a discussion of why the old system of setting safety standards doesn’t work, how the principles of endocrinology can be used to create a better system, and the latest news on current directions in endocrine disruption science.
Featured Speaker
Carol Kwiatkowski, PhD, executive director and senior research associate at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), a US based NGO founded by Theo Colborn and dedicated to compiling and disseminating the scientific evidence on health and environmental problems caused by low level exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. Dr. Kwiatkowski joined the TEDX team in 2007. She created the Critical Windows of Development website tool, a timeline of how the human body develops in the womb, paired with animal research showing when low-dose exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals during development results in altered health outcomes. In 2008 she became TEDX’s first executive director and now oversees the development and execution of all of TEDX’s programs. Prior to working at TEDX she was an assistant professor at the University of Colorado. Her training in behavioral science began at the College of William and Mary where she received her Bachelor of Arts, followed by a doctorate from the University of Denver.