This page in Swedish

Thomas Zoeller

Position: Researcher School/office: School of Science and Technology

Email: thomas.zoeller@oru.se

Phone: No number available

Room: -

Research subject

Biology

Research environments

Man-Technology-Environment research centre (MTM)

About Thomas Zoeller

My research focuses broadly on the effects of man-made chemicals on human health by interfering with endocrine systems. My training was in fundamental neuroendocrinology and had never considered the possibility that chemicals in a variety of consumer products, including food additives and in food packaging, could directly interact with hormone sensitive systems. However, in the 1990s I was appointed to a US EPA committee to develop methods for identifying chemicals that had these effects. Because my primary research is focused on the role of thyroid hormone in brain development - using model systems and epidemiology - I was concerned that the methods the EPA accepted were simply not adequate. My research since then has included research that helps identify ways in which environmental chemicals can interfere with thyroid hormone action, and ways that tests can be designed to identify such chemicals before human exposure. Although I have been a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for the past 25 years, my work here at Örebro University will focus on these issues as part of the ATHENA project - a Horizon 2020 project funded by the EU.

Publications

Publications

Articles in journals | Articles, reviews/surveys |

Articles in journals

Zoeller, R. T. , Birnbaum, L. S. , Collins, T. J. , Heindel, J. , Hunt, P. A. , Iguchi, T. , Kortenkamp, A. , Myers, J. P. & et al. (2023). European Medicines Agency Conflicts With the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Bisphenol A Regulation. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 7 (9).
Zoeller, R. T. (2021). Endocrine disrupting chemicals and thyroid hormone action. Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.), 92, 401-417.
La Merrill, M. A. , Vandenberg, L. N. , Smith, M. T. , Goodson, W. , Browne, P. , Patisaul, H. B. , Guyton, K. Z. , Kortenkamp, A. & et al. (2020). Consensus on the key characteristics of endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a basis for hazard identification. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 16 (1), 45-57.
Muncke, J. , Andersson, A. , Backhaus, T. , Boucher, J. M. , Carney Almroth, B. , Castillo Castillo, A. , Chevrier, J. , Demeneix, B. A. & et al. (2020). Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement. Environmental Health, 19 (1).
Doherty, B. T. , Kosarek, N. , Hoofnagle, A. N. , Xu, Y. , Zoeller, R. T. , Yolton, K. , Chen, A. , Lanphear, B. P. & et al. (2020). Maternal, cord, and three-year-old child serum thyroid hormone concentrations in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment study. Clinical Endocrinology, 92 (4), 366-372.
Lebeaux, R. M. , Doherty, B. T. , Gallagher, L. G. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hoofnagle, A. N. , Calafat, A. M. , Karagas, M. R. , Yolton, K. & et al. (2020). Maternal serum perfluoroalkyl substance mixtures and thyroid hormone concentrations in maternal and cord sera: The HOME Study. Environmental Research, 185.
Kortenkamp, A. , Axelstad, M. , Baig, A. H. , Bergman, Å. , Bornehag, C. , Cenijn, P. , Christiansen, S. , Demeneix, B. & et al. (2020). Removing Critical Gaps in Chemical Test Methods by Developing New Assays for the Identification of Thyroid Hormone System-Disrupting Chemicals: The ATHENA Project. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (9).
Vandenberg, L. N. , Prins, G. S. , Patisaul, H. B. & Zoeller, R. T. (2020). The Use and Misuse of Historical Controls in Regulatory Toxicology: Lessons from the CLARITY-BPA Study. Endocrinology, 161 (5).
Demeneix, B. , Vandenberg, L. N. , Ivell, R. & Zoeller, R. T. (2020). Thresholds and Endocrine Disruptors: An Endocrine Society Policy Perspective. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 4 (10).
Bansal, R. & Zoeller, R. T. (2019). CLARITY-BPA: Bisphenol A or Propylthiouracil on Thyroid Function and Effects in the Developing Male and Female Rat Brain. Endocrinology, 160 (8), 1771-1785.
Sethi, S. , Morgan, R. K. , Peng, W. , Lin, Y. , Li, X. , Luna, C. , Koch, M. , Bansal, R. & et al. (2019). Comparative Analyses of the 12 Most Abundant PCB Congeners Detected in Human Maternal Serum for Activity at the Thyroid Hormone Receptor and Ryanodine Receptor. Environmental Science and Technology, 53 (7), 3948-3958.
Nassan, F. L. , Korevaar, T. I. M. , Coull, B. A. , Skakkebæk, N. E. , Krawetz, S. A. , Estill, M. , Hait, E. J. , Korzenik, J. R. & et al. (2019). Dibutyl-phthalate exposure from mesalamine medications and serum thyroid hormones in men. International journal of hygiene and environmental health (Print), 222 (1), 101-110.
Reeves, K. W. , Santana, M. D. , Manson, J. E. , Hankinson, S. E. , Zoeller, R. T. , Bigelow, C. , Hou, L. , Wactawski-Wende, J. & et al. (2019). Predictors of urinary phthalate biomarker concentrations in postmenopausal women. Environmental Research, 169, 122-130.
Khan, K. M. , Parvez, F. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hocevar, B. A. , Kamendulis, L. M. , Rohlman, D. , Eunus, M. & Graziano, J. (2019). Thyroid hormones and neurobehavioral functions among adolescents chronically exposed to groundwater with geogenic arsenic in Bangladesh. Science of the Total Environment, 678, 278-287.
Zoeller, R. T. , Doan, L. , Demeneix, B. , Gore, A. C. , Nadal, A. & Tan, S. (2019). Update on Activities in Endocrine Disruptor Research and Policy. Endocrinology, 160 (7), 1681-1683.
Díaz Santana, M. V. , Hankinson, S. E. , Bigelow, C. , Sturgeon, S. R. , Zoeller, R. T. , Tinker, L. , Manson, J. A. E. , Calafat, A. M. & et al. (2019). Urinary concentrations of phthalate biomarkers and weight change among postmenopausal women: a prospective cohort study. Environmental Health, 18 (1).
Reeves, K. W. , Díaz Santana, M. , Manson, J. E. , Hankinson, S. E. , Zoeller, R. T. , Bigelow, C. , Sturgeon, S. R. , Spiegelman, D. & et al. (2019). Urinary Phthalate Biomarker Concentrations and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 111 (10), 1059-1067.
Vuong, A. M. , Braun, J. M. , Webster, G. M. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hoofnagle, A. N. , Sjödin, A. , Yolton, K. , Lanphear, B. P. & et al. (2018). Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposures and thyroid hormones in children at age 3 years. Environment International, 117, 339-347.
Zota, A. R. , Mitro, S. D. , Robinson, J. F. , Hamilton, E. G. , Park, J. , Parry, E. , Zoeller, R. T. & Woodruff, T. J. (2018). Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hydroxylated PBDE metabolites (OH-PBDEs) in maternal and fetal tissues, and associations with fetal cytochrome P450 gene expression. Environment International, 112, 269-278.
Zoeller, R. T. & Heindel, J. J. (2017). Do Environmental Chemicals Make Us Fat?. Endocrinology, 158 (10), 3086-3087.
Villanger, G. D. , Learner, E. , Longnecker, M. P. , Ask, H. , Aase, H. , Zoeller, R. T. , Knudsen, G. P. , Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. & et al. (2017). Effects of Sample Handling and Analytical Procedures on Thyroid Hormone Concentrations in Pregnant Women's Plasma. Epidemiology, 28 (3), 365-369.
Solecki, R. , Kortenkamp, A. , Bergman, Å. , Chahoud, I. , Degen, G. H. , Dietrich, D. , Greim, H. , Håkansson, H. & et al. (2017). Scientific principles for the identification of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: a consensus statement. Archives of Toxicology, 91 (2), 1001-1006.
Halden, R. U. , Lindeman, A. E. , Aiello, A. E. , Andrews, D. , Arnold, W. A. , Fair, P. , Fuoco, R. E. , Geer, L. A. & et al. (2017). The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban. Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 125 (6).
Kassotis, C. D. , Bromfield, J. J. , Klemp, K. C. , Meng, C. , Wolfe, A. , Zoeller, R. T. , Balise, V. D. , Isiguzo, C. J. & et al. (2016). Adverse Reproductive and Developmental Health Outcomes Following Prenatal Exposure to a Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Mixture in Female C57Bl/6 Mice. Endocrinology, 157 (9), 3469-3481.
Trasande, L. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hass, U. , Kortenkamp, A. , Grandjean, P. , Myers, J. P. , DiGangi, J. , Hunt, P. M. & et al. (2016). Burden of disease and costs of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in the European Union: an updated analysis. Andrology, 4 (4), 565-572.
Kortenkamp, A. , Bourguignon, J. , Slama, R. , Bergman, Å. , Demeneix, B. , Ivell, R. , Panzica, G. , Trasande, L. & et al. (2016). EU regulation of endocrine disruptors: a missed opportunity. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 4 (8), 649-650.
Attina, T. M. , Hauser, R. , Sathyanarayana, S. , Hunt, P. A. , Bourguignon, J. , Myers, J. P. , DiGangi, J. , Zoeller, R. T. & et al. (2016). Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the USA: a population-based disease burden and cost analysis. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 4 (12), 996-1003.
Leung, A. M. , Korevaar, T. I. M. , Peeters, R. P. , Zoeller, R. T. , Köhrle, J. , Duntas, L. H. , Brent, G. A. & Demeneix, B. (2016). Exposure to Thyroid-Disrupting Chemicals: A Transatlantic Call for Action. Thyroid, 26 (4), 479-480.
Allen, J. G. , Gale, S. , Zoeller, R. T. , Spengler, J. D. , Birnbaum, L. & McNeely, E. (2016). PBDE flame retardants, thyroid disease, and menopausal status in U.S. women. Environmental Health, 15 (1).
Trasande, L. , Vandenberg, L. N. , Bourguignon, J. , Myers, J. P. , Slama, R. , Vom Saal, F. & Zoeller, R. T. (2016). Peer-reviewed and unbiased research, rather than 'sound science', should be used to evaluate endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70 (11), 1051-1056.
Bennett, D. , Bellinger, D. C. , Birnbaum, L. S. , Bradman, A. , Chen, A. , Cory-Slechta, D. A. , Engel, S. M. , Fallin, M. D. & et al. (2016). Project TENDR: Targeting Environmental Neuro-Developmental Risks. The TENDR Consensus Statement. Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 124 (7), A118-A122.
Bourguignon, J. , Slama, R. , Bergman, Å. , Demeneix, B. , Ivell, R. , Kortenkamp, A. , Panzica, G. , Trasande, L. & et al. (2016). Science-based regulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals in Europe: which approach?. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 4 (8), 643-646.
Slama, R. , Bourguignon, J. , Demeneix, B. , Ivell, R. , Panzica, G. , Kortenkamp, A. & Zoeller, R. T. (2016). Scientific Issues Relevant to Setting Regulatory Criteria to Identify Endocrine-Disrupting Substances in the European Union. Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 124 (10), 1497-1503.
Zoeller, R. T. , Bergman, Å. , Becher, G. , Bjerregaard, P. , Bornman, R. , Brandt, I. , Iguchi, T. , Jobling, S. & et al. (2016). The Path Forward on Endocrine Disruptors Requires Focus on the Basics. Toxicological Sciences, 149 (2), 272-272.
Zoeller, R. T. & Vandenberg, L. N. (2015). Assessing dose-response relationships for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs): a focus on non-monotonicity. Environmental Health, 14.
Kassotis, C. D. , Klemp, K. C. , Vu, D. C. , Lin, C. , Meng, C. , Besch-Williford, C. L. , Pinatti, L. , Zoeller, R. T. & et al. (2015). Endocrine-Disrupting Activity of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Adverse Health Outcomes After Prenatal Exposure in Male Mice. Endocrinology, 156 (12), 4458-4473.
Trasande, L. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hass, U. , Kortenkamp, A. , Grandjean, P. , Myers, J. P. , DiGangi, J. , Bellanger, M. & et al. (2015). Estimating burden and disease costs of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the European union. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 100 (4), 1245-1255.
Bergman, Å. , Becher, G. , Blumberg, B. , Bjerregaard, P. , Bornman, R. , Brandt, I. , Casey, S. C. , Frouin, H. & et al. (2015). Manufacturing doubt about endocrine disrupter science: A rebuttal of industry-sponsored critical comments on the UNEP/WHO report "State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012". Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology, 73 (3), 1007-1017.
Vuong, A. M. , Webster, G. M. , Romano, M. E. , Braun, J. M. , Zoeller, R. T. , Hoofnagle, A. N. , Sjödin, A. , Yolton, K. & et al. (2015). Maternal Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Exposure and Thyroid Hormones in Maternal and Cord Sera: The HOME Study, Cincinnati, USA. Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 123 (10), 1079-1085.
Bellanger, M. , Demeneix, B. , Grandjean, P. , Zoeller, R. T. & Trasande, L. (2015). Neurobehavioral deficits, diseases, and associated costs of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the European Union. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 100 (4), 1256-1266.
Heindel, J. J. , Vom Saal, F. S. , Blumberg, B. , Bovolin, P. , Calamandrei, G. , Ceresini, G. , Cohn, B. A. , Fabbri, E. & et al. (2015). Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors. Environmental Health, 14.
Bellanger, M. , Demeneix, B. , Grandjean, P. , Zoeller, R. T. & Trasande, L. (2015). Response to the Letter by Middlebeek and Veuger. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 100 (6), L54-L55.
Dong, H. , You, S. , Williams, A. , Wade, M. G. , Yauk, C. L. & Zoeller, R. T. (2015). Transient Maternal Hypothyroxinemia Potentiates the Transcriptional Response to Exogenous Thyroid Hormone in the Fetal Cerebral Cortex Before the Onset of Fetal Thyroid Function: A Messenger and MicroRNA Profiling Study. Cerebral Cortex, 25 (7), 1735-1745.
Naveau, E. , Pinson, A. , Gérard, A. , Nguyen, L. , Charlier, C. , Thomé, J. , Zoeller, R. T. , Bourguignon, J. & et al. (2014). Alteration of rat fetal cerebral cortex development after prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls. PLOS ONE, 9 (3).
Wadzinski, T. L. , Geromini, K. , McKinley Brewer, J. , Bansal, R. , Abdelouahab, N. , Langlois, M. , Takser, L. & Zoeller, R. T. (2014). Endocrine disruption in human placenta: expression of the dioxin-inducible enzyme, CYP1A1, is correlated with that of thyroid hormone-regulated genes. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 99 (12), E2735-E2743.
Bansal, R. , Tighe, D. , Danai, A. , Rawn, D. F. K. , Gaertner, D. W. , Arnold, D. L. , Gilbert, M. E. & Zoeller, R. T. (2014). Polybrominated diphenyl ether (DE-71) interferes with thyroid hormone action independent of effects on circulating levels of thyroid hormone in male rats. Endocrinology, 155 (10), 4104-4112.
Zoeller, R. T. (2014). Regulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals insufficient to safeguard public health. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 99 (6), 1993-1994.
Gilbert, M. E. , Hedge, J. M. , Valentín-Blasini, L. , Blount, B. C. , Kannan, K. , Tietge, J. , Zoeller, R. T. , Crofton, K. M. & et al. (2013). An animal model of marginal iodine deficiency during development: the thyroid axis and neurodevelopmental outcome. Toxicological Sciences, 132 (1), 177-195.
Schug, T. T. , Abagyan, R. A. , Blumberg, B. W. , Collins, T. J. , Crews, D. P. , DeFur, P. L. , Dickerson, S. M. , Edwards, T. M. & et al. (2013). Designing Endocrine Disruption Out of the Next Generation of Chemicals. Green Chemistry, 15 (1), 181-198.
Fisher, J. W. , Li, S. , Crofton, K. , Zoeller, R. T. , McLanahan, E. D. , Lumen, A. & Gilbert, M. E. (2013). Evaluation of iodide deficiency in the lactating rat and pup using a biologically based dose-response model. Toxicological Sciences, 132 (1), 75-86.
Bergman, Å. , Andersson, A. , Becher, G. , van den Berg, M. , Blumberg, B. , Bjerregaard, P. , Bornehag, C. , Bornman, R. & et al. (2013). Science and policy on endocrine disrupters must not be mixed: a reply to a "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors. Environmental Health, 12.
Zota, A. R. , Linderholm, L. , Park, J. , Petreas, M. , Guo, T. , Privalsky, M. L. , Zoeller, R. T. & Woodruff, T. J. (2013). Temporal comparison of PBDEs, OH-PBDEs, PCBs, and OH-PCBs in the serum of second trimester pregnant women recruited from San Francisco General Hospital, California. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (20), 11776-11784.
Bergman, Å. , Heindel, J. J. , Kasten, T. , Kidd, K. A. , Jobling, S. , Neira, M. , Zoeller, R. T. , Becher, G. & et al. (2013). The impact of endocrine disruption: a consensus statement on the state of the science. Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 121 (4), A104-A106.
Dong, H. , Paquette, M. , Williams, A. , Zoeller, R. T. , Wade, M. & Yauk, C. (2010). Thyroid hormone may regulate mRNA abundance in liver by acting on microRNAs. PLOS ONE, 5 (8).

Articles, reviews/surveys

Vandenberg, L. N. , Zoeller, R. T. , Prins, G. S. & Trasande, L. (2023). Evaluating adverse effects of environmental agents in food: a brief critique of the US FDA's criteria. Environmental Health, 22 (1).
Drover, S. S. M. , Villanger, G. D. , Aase, H. , Skogheim, T. S. , Longnecker, M. P. , Zoeller, R. T. , Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. , Knudsen, G. P. & et al. (2019). Maternal Thyroid Function During Pregnancy or Neonatal Thyroid Function and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review. Epidemiology, 30 (1), 130-144.
Gore, A. C. , Chappell, V. A. , Fenton, S. E. , Flaws, J. A. , Nadal, A. , Prins, G. S. , Toppari, J. & Zoeller, R. T. (2015). EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals. Endocrine reviews, 36 (6), E1-E150.
Gore, A. C. , Chappell, V. A. , Fenton, S. E. , Flaws, J. A. , Nadal, A. , Prins, G. S. , Toppari, J. & Zoeller, R. T. (2015). Executive Summary to EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals. Endocrine reviews, 36 (6), 593-602.
Heindel, J. J. , Newbold, R. R. , Bucher, J. R. , Camacho, L. , Delclos, K. B. , Lewis, S. M. , Vanlandingham, M. , Churchwell, M. I. & et al. (2015). NIEHS/FDA CLARITY-BPA research program update. Reproductive Toxicology, 58, 33-44.
Schug, T. T. , Heindel, J. J. , Camacho, L. , Delclos, K. B. , Howard, P. , Johnson, A. F. , Aungst, J. , Keefe, D. & et al. (2013). A new approach to synergize academic and guideline-compliant research: the CLARITY-BPA research program. Reproductive Toxicology, 40, 35-40.
Vandenberg, L. N. , Colborn, T. , Hayes, T. B. , Heindel, J. J. , Jacobs, D. R. , Lee, D. , Myers, J. P. , Shioda, T. & et al. (2013). Regulatory decisions on endocrine disrupting chemicals should be based on the principles of endocrinology. Reproductive Toxicology, 38, 1-15.