Assessing Potential Hazards of
Endocrine Disruptors

Concerns about potential problems posed by endocrine disruptors have motivated the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to design an Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). The program will develop, standardize, and validate a suite of in vitro, mammalian, and ecotoxicological screens and tests that identify and characterize endocrine effects in pesticides, industrial chemicals, and environmental contaminants. To support this program, EPA has contracted Battelle to provide comprehensive toxicological and ecotoxicological testing services, including chemical and statistical analyses, data management, and quality assurance/quality control.

An EDSP Data Coordination Center (DCC) has been established at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio, where Battelle staff will coordinate the efforts of the multi-year program. Information scientists, data managers, computer programmers, biostatisticians, and statistical programmers will staff the center, coordinate management and dissemination of all data and information across the program, and provide program-wide statistical design and analysis support.

The figure above illustrates the present and anticipated roles of the EDSP DCC, which will be implemented in phases, making it functional and yet expandable as the program evolves. The first phase includes the development of data transfer and tracking protocols, data warehouse designs, and consistent data collection strategies. Statistical and programming support will also be provided.

Plans for future growth include migrating the data warehouse to a production quality database server; providing EDSP information to the public; on-line data capture/collection capabilities; and on-line access to data, reports, and charts. Battelle’s staff at the Center will address:

• Security of data storage, transfer, and access;
• Portability of the collected information as computing platforms change;
• Expandability of the center; and
• Compliance with the EPA Office of Environmental Information (OEI) standards and policies, as well as other federal computer standards and policies.

For more information about the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Data Coordination Center, please contact Battelle Program Manager Dr. David Houchens at (614) 424-3564, houchensd@battelle.org, or Battelle DCC Coordinator Dr. Paul Feder at (614) 424-4525, feder@battelle.org.