华南师范大学环境研究院

Dr. Deng Wenjing, Assistant Professor, Hong Kong University of Education. Dr. Deng had obtained her PhD from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2007. Her research interests focus on the persistent toxic substances (PTS) in the indoor and outdoor air and the children health effects by PTS. In recent years, Dr. Deng has authored more than 40 papers in Environment International, Environmental Pollution, Atmospheric Environment, etc. Dr Deng is a highly cited author in the world in the field of Environmental Sciences with a Hirsch (H) index of 16 with over 2200 citations. Her i10 Index (number of papers cited more than 10 times) is 23. Her ResearchGate (RG) Score is 30.1(>90.0%).

Abstract: There is growing evidence that suggests 70–90% of chronic diseases are attributable to environmental factors and a majority of contributors are toxic chemicals, especially Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs have effects at extremely low doses like that of natural hormones to regulate bodily functions. Due to children’s continuing development and behavioural activities, young children are likely to suffer more from the adverse effects of EDCs than adults.  The body burden of EDCs on children has become a global and ubiquitous problem. However, there are few research studies on the exposure of Hong Kong children to EDCs. Although the results of our previous work and recent monitoring studies suggest widespread occurrence of EDCs in Hong Kong, most work was focused on occurrence and the fate of small parts of EDCs in sewage or aquatic environment. As one of the most densely populated areas in the world and one of the most economically developed regions in China, EDCs in Hong Kong might pose risks to humans because of high meat intake and processed food intake. Beyond that, some EDCs, such as flame retardants (FRs) are partitioned into air more readily in warmer regions. The Endocrine Society has called on European regulators to ensure that EDCs can be identified “using practical, achievable scientific standards in detailed comments on a draft guidance document for implementing criteria for the identification of EDCs”. It is our opinion that EDA method of biota samples is a solution that can work out the burden of increasing numbers of emerging contaminants on the human body. In view of the solid research foundation of the EDA method in Europe, a collaborative research study between Hong Kong and Belgium will not only contribute to the measurement of EDCs in Hong Kong, but also to improvements in the EDA method for European regulators.