No major endocrine effects found from TBBP-A and HBCD

The European Union Research Cluster on endocrine disruption, CREDO, has just announced the results of long-term exposure studies on two of the largest volume brominated flame retardants, concluding that there were "no major endocrine effects found in fish". The FIRE project (Flame retardants Integrated Risk assessment for Endocrine effects), set up under CREDO, performed three studies on estuarine flounders with long-term exposure to TBBPA and HBCD. Despite the significantly higher exposure levels than that found in the wild, the CREDO report concludes that the flounders' "general health and toxicity parameters (behavior, survival, growth rate, and relative liver and gonad weight) were not affected". The results of these studies, together with other data, are contributing to the ongoing EU risk assessments of TBBPA and HBCD.