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Endocrine disruptors can be highly harmful to health and the environment

Have you ever heard of endocrine disruptors? The name seems to be difficult, but we are all in contact with them. These harmful substances are gaining more and more attention in research. The concern tends to increase, as each day we see more studies showing the damage to health and the environment that these xenobiotic substances (foreign to our body) can cause.

Endocrine Disruptors (EDs) (endocrine disruptors chemicals, in English) are a range of chemical substances that interfere with the hormonal system, altering the natural way of communication of the endocrine system, causing disturbances in wildlife and also in the health of man.

How endocrine disruptors act in the human body

EDs act in the human body by imitating natural hormones (such as estrogen), thus blocking the natural hormonal action and altering the levels of endogenous hormones.

Although many similar substances already exist in nature, such as phytoestrogens present in soybeans, artificial ones pose a much greater danger than natural compounds, as they persist in the body for years, while natural estrogens can be eliminated in a few days.

Our bodies are able to eliminate natural estrogens because we are already adapted to them, but many of the artificial compounds resist excretion processes and accumulate in the body, subjecting humans and animals to low-level but long-lasting contamination. This form of chronic exposure to synthetic hormonal substances is unprecedented in our evolutionary history.

Occurrence and exposure to endocrine disruptors

The first reports of chemicals that acted as endocrine disruptors pointed to the use of diethylstilbestrol, a drug used by women between the 50s and 70s, which had disastrous results, such as vaginal cancer and infertility in daughters born to mothers who used it , in addition to irreversible deformations of the uterus.

Other countless damages were caused by pesticides such as DDT, initially considered as “miraculous” for the control of pests in crops, it caused several health problems for the population around the world, including in Brazil, mainly in the Cubatão region.

These synthetic compounds originate from different types of industries, notably chemical, and considering that new substances are launched on the market annually without due prior study in relation to the effects on organisms and the environment, we are constantly coming into contact with new substances that can act as hormonal disruptors.

In addition, other products found in the home are also sources of endocrine disruptors, such as personal care products, cosmetics, food additives, packaging, plastic containers and contaminants. To understand better, we should know some of the most common endocrine disruptor groups that we come into contact with every day.

Examples of endocrine disruptors to avoid

Check out some special articles from eCycle portal that explain in more detail how they act, where they are found and how to avoid some endocrine disruptors:

• Phthalates: what are they, what are their risks and how to prevent
• Bisphenol F
• Bisphenol A
• Bisphenol S
• parabens
• Lead
• Triclosan: undesirable omnipresence
• Benzene
• Toluene

Low dose hazard

It is not yet known how much endocrine disruptors are needed to harm human health. However, studies indicate that tiny amounts already have the capacity to be dangerous.

Endocrine disruptors can interact and produce significant effects, even when combined in low doses, which individually would not produce observable effects​​.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there is evidence that exposure to endocrine disruptors over time increased some diseases, such as:

• Reproductive/endocrine: breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometriosis, infertility, diabetes.
• Immune/autoimmune : susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases.
• Cardiopulmonary: asthma, heart disease, hypertension, infarction.
• Brain/nervous : Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties.

Another disease related to endocrine disruptors is obesity. It is believed that the main action of endocrine disruptors is related to interference in adipocyte differentiation and weight homeostasis mechanisms. In Brazil, the highest prevalence of obesity is found in the most industrialized regions of the country, therefore, where there is potentially greater exposure of the population to endocrine disruptors.

While there are some efforts to stop endocrine disruptors, there are a plethora of synthetic chemicals that have not yet been evaluated for hormone disrupting activity and many are not identified by the manufacturer in the product. Because of this, we are only looking at the tip of the iceberg, there are still questions to be answered, such as: how many endocrine disruptors are there? Where are they from? What are its long-term effects? What are your mechanisms of action? All these questions need answers.

In the meantime, we have to take precautions and seek new information to know how to avoid endocrine disruptors and other harmful substances.