About the Unit 

Vision and Mission:

The Unit through the existing Andrology, Endocrine Disrupting Chemical (EDC) and Toxicology Laboratories will address environmental and human exposure to chemical environmental pollutants.  These pose a risk to human and wildlife in rural and urban areas. The current focus is on endocrine disrupting chemicals and their presence (analytical chemistry) and biological activity in water and soil. Included in this will be toxicology studies using animal models and human epidemiology studies.  Future research will extend to include the assessment and management of environmental exposures.  
 

Aims of the Unit:

1. To conduct research that is applicable to EDCs, reproductive, environmental and human and animal health 
2. To train skilled personnel to deal with EDC-related health issues and so doing enable them to deal with serious environmental mediated impacts on human and environmental health in future. 
3. To provide a platform for more effectively addressing issues related to EDCs. That could assist and advise government on possible measures to manage exposure to potentially harmful EDCs and toxic waste/pollution management in general. Government should be able to employ the research findings for formulating policies and strategies.  

Unit structure:

The EDC and Toxicology laboratory was established as a dual collaborative partnership between the School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) and Andrology in the Department of Urology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria.  The SHSPH and Andrology have been working in the field of endocrine disruption for more almost 20 years. 
 

The modus operandi of the Unit:

The EDC and Toxicology laboratory have been established as a dual collaborative partnership between the Department of Urology (Andrology) and the SHSPH.  The EDC component offers a comprehensive battery of bioassays for estrogenic and androgenic activity in environmental samples and specific chemicals.  The Toxicology section is primarily a research laboratory to assess reproductive health in humans and wildlife.