Endocrine disrupting chemicals, commonly referred to as “EDCs”, are naturally occurring or human made chemicals that have the potential to mimic, block, and interfere with hormones that are part of the human body endocrine system. These chemicals have been associated with a wide variety of health issues, from infertility to increased risk of cancer. Data from the Endocrine Society has shown that there are nearly eighty five thousand human made chemicals on Earth, and more than one thousand may be endocrine disruptors, including the most well researched ones: atrazine, dioxins, phthalates, bisphenol A, and perchlorate.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: SOURCES
Endocrine disrupting chemicals can be found in everyday household items, including cosmetics, food packaging, toys, carpet, and pesticides. Moreover, chemicals that act as flame retardants could also be endocrine disruptors. Contact with endocrine disrupting chemicals could occur through the air, diet, skin, and water. Although these specific types of chemicals cannot be avoided or removed completely, individuals can make informed choices to reduce their chances of exposure.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: HEALTH EFFECTS
Endocrine disrupting chemicals may lead to a number of severe adverse health effects, with reproductive problems, such as infertility or the abnormal development of sex organs, being the main outcomes. Moreover, health problems including early puberty, higher risks of cancer, and metabolic disorders causing obesity can also result from endocrine disrupting chemicals exposure. These chemicals can affect both women and men, regardless of their age, but can be especially harmful during the development periods of early adolescence or pregnancy.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: VULNERABLE GROUPS
Research has shown that there are particular groups that may face greater vulnerability to endocrine disrupting chemicals, which has caused widespread concern. Specifically, children who are exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals during pregnancy or early childhood may have issues with their development and health. Pregnant women can also be adversely affected by these chemicals, as well as low-income racial minorities, who face disproportionate exposure through consumer products, food sources, and environmental conditions, which originate from socioeconomic inequalities, residential segregation, and historical environmental injustice.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
Endocrine disrupting chemicals can have numerous ecological effects on wildlife, including declining population sizes, alteration of the sex ratios, decreased fertility rates, and increased disorders, which all interfere with the normal functioning of hormones in ecosystems.
In orcas, otherwise known as the killer whale, scientists have shown that these specific chemicals are correlated to reducing their ability to reproduce. Endocrine disrupting chemicals can be detected in freshwater and drinking water, which can lead to undesirable outcomes even when at low concentrations, showcasing how dangerous these compounds can be in the environment.
In the freshwaters of Europe, endocrine disrupting chemicals are often found as contaminants. It is said that more than three-quarters of the seas in Europe have these harmful chemicals in their waters, according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EPA), in the year of 2019. This same report has also claimed that twenty percent of aquatic species, on average, are lost in these fresh waters due to chemical pollution.
More than two hundred forty synthetic chemicals have been detected in drinking water around Europe, and many of them include common endocrine disruptors, such as phthalates and bisphenols. These chemicals have been linked with causing detrimental problems with the immune system of sea otters, bottlenose dolphins, in addition to the reproductive and hormone systems of polar bears. This chemical pollution increases the vulnerability of wildlife and ecosystems, making them less resilient to the stresses of climate change and habitat loss, which has led to widespread concern amongst many scholars.