Special issue on the Impact of Endocrine Disrupters on Reproductive Health

This special issue of International Journal of Andrology contains articles that are focused on the impact of man-made environmental factors on human reproductive health in men and women. Most of the papers originated as presentations at the 6th Copenhagen Workshop on Endocrine Disrupters, which took place in April 2011. In addition, seven thematically related original studies that were submitted to the journal independently of this meeting are also included. The fact that so many environment-related studies have been carried out within a short period emphasizes the importance of this topic.

The focus of the Copenhagen meeting was trends in human health related to the endocrine systems and the role of endocrine disrupters present in the environment of our modern daily life. Emphasis was on reproductive health but emerging evidence of effects on other endocrine-regulated systems was also presented.

The workshop was the sixth in the series of successful meetings held at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen since 2000. The aim of these meetings has been from the beginning to bring together leading scientists with different expertise to discuss the latest aspects of endocrine disruption. More than 200 scientists from all over the world and from a wide variety of disciplines including endocrinology, basic science, toxicology, reproductive biology, immunology, chemistry, environmental health, and epidemiology gathered for 4 days during this 6th meeting.

In this special issue, you find papers from several of the workshop speakers. For the papers that closely reflect the original presentation at the meeting, the edited comments from the audience are included, to provide an impression of the scientific discussions which took place. All papers accepted for this volume have passed the ordinary peer review process of the Journal.

Many people at the Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, participated in the organization of the workshop. In particular, we would like to thank Kathrine Hurtigkarl, Tina Tronier, Anette M. Pedersen and Britt-Marie de Stricker for their valuable assistance. We also would like to thank Vivien McGrath (Edinburgh) and Andy Beare (Copenhagen) for excellent editorial assistance. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the generous support from the Danish Ministry of Environment and activities under the Danish Centre on Endocrine Disrupters (http://www.cend.dk), which made the workshop and this publication possible.