Health Hotline Magazine | October 2024

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS? By Lindsay Wilson What they are, how they affect health, and how to avoid them

Endocrine disruptors are all around us. They are in an array of consumer products that we use every day: personal care products, cookware, cleaning supplies, food containers and wrappers, even furniture and electronics. They are in our food and water. Our homes. They are everywhere. They are persistent. And they are harmful to our health.

But First, What Are They? In the simplest terms, endocrine disruptors are man-made chemicals that interfere with the body’s endocrine system, the system that makes our hormones. These hormones include everything from estrogen and testosterone to insulin and cortisol to thyroid hormones and melatonin. Their functions run the gamut: they regulate blood pressure and maintain blood sugar; stimulate muscle growth and affect growth and development; control production of sex hormones and the development of eggs in women and sperm in men; control metabolism and help with sleep, and that’s just the beginning. From head to toe, from birth until death, hormones are the messengers that keep our bodies running smoothly. Endocrine disruptors are just that—they disrupt, bring disorder, upset, or disturb our hormonal systems. Some endocrine disrupting chemicals interfere with the system’s normal functioning, while others actually mimic specific hormones. Exposure to endocrine disruptors is linked to a growing list of health issues including infertility, prostate and breast cancer, early puberty, including early onset of menstruation in girls, diabetes and obesity, behavioral and learning issues, including ADHD, reduced sperm production, quality, and viability, and cardiovascular disease. One of the things that makes endocrine disruptors so insidious is that the effects aren’t immediate, rather, they develop slowly over time. But by learning about them, where they’re found, and how to avoid them, you can protect yourself and your family from their damaging health effects. The Most Common Offenders, and How to Avoid Them There are thousands of manmade chemicals that may have endocrine-disrupting properties, but here we will cover a few that most of us are routinely exposed to. These include pesticides , phthalates found in soft plastic and personal care products, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), used as oil, stain, and water repellents in a variety of consumer products. Pesticides More than 100 different pesticides (including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) have been identified to have endocrine disrupting properties. Some of them are widely used, including 2,4-D, acephate (an insecticide the EPA recently proposed easing restrictions on), atrazine (which biologists discovered can turn male frogs into females), chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, and permethrin. Some of their effects include having androgenic and estrogenic properties, disrupting normal thyroid hormone production, damaging the adrenal glands, increasing and/or decreasing specific hormones including cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone, increasing insulin in the blood, and reducing fertility. Phthalates These chemicals are industrial plasticizers that help make plastics softer and more flexible; they are widely used in personal care products to moisture skin, to make fragrances last longer, and to dissolve and blend ingredients. Phthalates are used to make plastic food containers, plastic wrap made from PVC (look for recycling label #3), and are found in personal care

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