Endocrine disruptor chemicals

Plastics and Environmental Sustainability, First Edition. Anthony L. Andrady. 2015 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Pubhshed 2015 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The presence of EDCs in the body affects functions such as metabolic and reproductive processes including embryonic development, gonadal formation, sex differentiation, growth, and digestion. They are plausibly linked to diseases including prostate cancer, breast cancer, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), asthma, and reproductive problems (Myers et al, 2009 Swan et al., 2000). Though not toxins in the conventional sense, EDCs lead to serious adverse health outcomes in both animals and humans. Conditions linked to exposure to EDCs, such as reproductive problems, incidence of certain cancers, asthma, obesity, diabetes, behavioral or learning disorders, and ADHD, are on the increase worldwide. Of this disease burden, 24-33% has been attributed to environmental contributions (Smith et al., 1999). 

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All but one of these studies addressed only changes over time and did not attempt to measure exposures to chemicals. The one study that attempted to correlate levels of exposure to endocrine disruptor chemicals with an adverse response examined testicular cancer. As summarized in this section, it should be clear that facts do not support the frightening assault on the male scenarios presented in the media and by some scientists. 

BPA is considered an endocrine disruptor chemical and, in chronic studies, induces production of vitellogenin in male fathead minnows (P. promelas) at concentrations of 640 and 1280pgl after 43 days and 160pgl after 71 days. Induction of vitellogenin is a process normally occurring only in female fish in response to estrogenic hormones during the reproductive cycle. 

ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR CHEMICALS USED IN PLASTICS INDUSTRY... 

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