The endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) and toxicology laboratories form part of the Environmental Chemical Pollution and Health (ECPH) Research Unit. The ECPH Research Unit is a 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.

The aim of the ECPH Research Unit is to conduct research on the occurrence, health effects and projected future impacts of chemicals, especially EDCs on environmental pollution and health in South Africa and Africa. EDCs are chemicals that interfere with normal hormone action. For example, they can mimic or block hormones, and/or affect their production, their movement throughout the body, or their metabolism. Evidence indicates that these EDCs can compromise the reproductive system as well as the thyroid signalling mechanisms within an organism. In addition, EDC exposure has also been shown to have an effect on tissues and organs associated with energy metabolism, glucose control, fat cell development and satiety.

Currently, there is sufficient data to identify EDCs as a public health problem, and it must be addressed accordingly. EDCs are significantly impacting on human health, and this is of great concern. Therefore, research regarding the mode of action of EDCs as well strategies to reduce further EDC exposures, particularly during development, are essential in preventing diseases from occurring. One focus point would be to identify and control exposure and exposure sources. The EDC laboratory offers a comprehensive battery of relevant bioassays for estrogenic, androgenic and thyroid activity in environmental samples and specific chemicals. Assays for steroidogenesis and oxidative stress are also being established at the laboratory. The toxicology laboratory is primarily a research laboratory focusing on the assessment of reproductive health in humans and animals.

Research projects conducted at the EDC and toxicology laboratories are often multidisciplinary and some of the collaborators of the ECPH Research Unit include the Department of Pharmacology and Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at UP, Stellenbosch University, North-West University, University of Venda, Tshwane University of Technology, Rand Water, NMISA, Toxsolutions, Biotox lab, the Global Water Research Coalition (GWRC), Department of Pharmacy at the University of Copenhagen and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany.

Some of the research projects that was conducted at the ECPH Research Unit include the following:

• The use of sentinel species to determine the endocrine disruptive activity in an urban nature reserve
• DDT for Malaria Control: Effects in Indicators and Health Risk
• Endocrine disrupting chemical activity and health effects of identified veterinary growth stimulants in surface and groundwater
• Using reporter gene assays to evaluate endocrine disruption in the rivers of three agricultural areas in South Africa
• The Compilation of a Toolbox of Bio-assays for Detection of Estrogenic Activity in Water
• Estrogenic activity, target endocrine disrupting chemical levels and potential health risks of bottled water and water from selected distribution points in Pretoria and Cape Town
• Endocrine disrupting chemicals in commercially available cling film brands in South Africa
• Pesticide residues and estrogenic activity in fruit and vegetables sampled from major fresh produce markets in South Africa
• Removal of pharmaceutical estrogenic activity of sequencing batch reactor effluents assessed in the T47D-KBluc reporter gene assay
• Quality and safety of South African hand sanitisers during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The expansion of the toolbox of bioassays to assess endocrine disruptive activity in water
• Implementation of effect-based methods for water quality assessment