As the election of Donald Trump promises a bonfire of environmental regulation in the United States, Europe is poised to take a significant and possibly decisive step on how to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These chemicals are everywhere — in food, personal-care products, electronics and furniture — and are widely detected in human blood and urine at levels known to affect health. Yet action on them lags behind controls on hazards such as carcinogens. Early next month, European Union member states will take an important step when they review criteria proposed by the European Commission for identifying and regulating EDCs.

Many pesticides contaminate foods and disrupt hormonal functions that are critical for brain development. Once EDC criteria are formalized, removal of these pesticides could help to prevent autism and loss of cognition, which have been linked to exposures in utero. The EDC criteria will also set scientific precedents for other national and global chemical policies.

The state of the science and policy discussions on EDCs are similar to those around climate change a decade ago. Research has suggested a more than 99% probability that these chemicals contribute to disease and disability. International bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Council on Chemical Management, list them as an emerging public-health concern. The effects of EDCs cross the entire lifespan, with disease burden and costs of US$217 billion annually in Europe and $340 billion in the United States (T. M. Attina et al. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. http://doi.org/bs55; 2016). Even the reinsurance industry has advised its clients to reduce financial exposure related to the manufacture and use of EDCs.