Webinar: Endocrine Disruptors in the Healthcare Sector  

Available to watch online

Dr Gavin ten Tusscher, Ph.D., How you can avoid or reduce exposure to EDCs in the healthcare system

Dr ten Tusscher is a paediatrician in the Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology at the Westfriesgasthuis, Hoorn, Netherlands, with specific interest in paediatric pulmonology, allergies and toxicology. He studied medicine at the University of Amsterdam, where he also trained as paediatrician and achieved his Ph.D. thesis.  

Dr ten Tusscher was a member of the EU Technical Working Group on Bio-Monitoring of Children, was Chairman of Health Care Without Harm, Europe for 5 years and is currently Chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee North Holland. Together with Professor Janna Koppe, he leads one of the longest running, on-going paediatric environmental health studies in the world. This Dutch study has been following children for over 20 years since the 1980′s. He has more than 50 publications to his name.

Dr R. Thomas Zoeller, Ph.D., What are EDCs and how does exposure to EDCs affect human health?

Dr Zoeller is Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His current research focuses on the role of thyroid hormone in brain development with an emphasis on the fetal brain. These studies have revealed that the fetal (rodent) brain is very sensitive to changes in thyroid hormone action, and that this action is highly complex. 

Dr Zoeller’s lab also works on the mechanisms by which environmental endocrine disruptors can interfere with thyroid hormone action in the developing brain. This work has demonstrated that some chemicals – including PCBs, PBDEs, and BPA, produce effects on thyroid hormone action that are not fully consistent with a reduction in serum thyroid hormone levels. The mechanism(s) by which these chemicals can produce a “mosaic” effect on hormone action is important to address. 

Dr Zoeller’s laboratory has published over 120 peer reviewed papers on these topics. He was a member of the U.S. EPA's EDSTAC working group on Screening and Testing in the 1990’s as well as several other EPA review panels including for perchlorate, PFOA, and the tier 1 of the EDSP. In recognition of his work, Dr Zoeller received the “Scientist of the Year – 2002” from the Learning Disabilities Association and was a Samuel F. Conte Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, and was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for his work. 

He has served on numerous advisory committees including the EPA’s chartered Science Advisory Board, the Exposure and Human Health Committee (of the SAB), and the Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction Study Section of the NIH. He is currently an associate editor of the journalEndocrine Disruption, and is on the editorial board of Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. He has written extensively on issues of Endocrine Disruption and Public Policy. 

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