Measurement and risk assessment of endocrine disruptors present in sport supplements

Consequently, the screening of 116 sport supplements available on the Island of Ireland was performed and the suitability of the developed method for the monitoring of EDs in sport supplements was proven.<br><br>The second aim of the project was to assess the risk posed to human health by the levels of estrogenic (Chapter 5) and androgenic (Chapter 6) EDs detected in the supplements. A risk assessment was performed by combining an exposure assessment study, based on the RGA results, with levels of 17p-estradiol andtestosterone shown to cause detrimental effects in animals and humans, as reported in epidemiological and animal studies within the literature.

The levels of EDs detected(equivalent to 17p-estradiol and dihydrotestosterone) in the sport supplements were also compared with the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of these hormones and the amount of hormones that people are exposed to via food and water.<br><br>Finally, estrogenic EDs were divided into two categories: plant based compounds called phytoestrogens and a group of natural and synthetic estrogens (endogenoushormones and xenoestrogens).

The exposure and risks connected with these two groups of estrogenic compounds were assessed separately (Chapter 5). Subsequently,the influence of genistein, a phytoestrogen most commonly present in food, on IVAbstractendogenous human blood levels of estrogen hormones (a mixture of 17|3-estradioland estrone) was investigated by two estrogenic bioassays, RGA and lowoligonucleotide DNA microarray (Chapter 7). Additionally, a comparison of these two bioassays was made as described in Chapter 7.