Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Human Health Risk Assessment: A Critical Review

Abstract

International audienceConcerns over the threats posed by a large number of molecules, collectively termed as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and generally known to alter and disrupt hormone systems and physiological functions, have often been expressed in academic and scholarly debates. From the perspective of classical toxicology, EDCs have genomic mechanisms of actions and exert agonistic or antagonistic effects on steroid receptors. They are also able to alter reproductive function by binding to estrogen or androgen receptors, and the neuroendocrine system by binding to the thyroid receptor. Recently, EDCs have been shown to have equally complex nongenomic mechanisms, altering steroid synthesis or steroid metabolism. As environmental contaminants, these molecules proved disruptively harmful for many wildlife species, particularly those from or depending on the aquatic ecosystem. An increasingly growing body of research has voiced further concerns that human populations are not immune from the dangers of EDCs. Studies from this line of research caution that EDCs can alter hormonal balance and that a whole range of breast and prostate cancers, endometriosis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias have been linked to exposure to EDCs. This particular area has raised a lot of controversy and the literature on this subject often presents opposing, and sometimes conflicting, perceptions and perspectives. Accordingly, the authors aimed to contribute to the committed academic search for better appreciation of the topic. They first discuss the major natural and synthetic chemicals with endocrine disrupting properties to which humans and wildlife may be exposed. They then describe the key endocrine mechanisms of action and conclude by addressing the main observed effects in human and wildlife populations

Microextraction with polyethersulfone for bisphenol-A, alkylphenols and hormones determination in water samples by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis

“…Bisphenol-A (BPA) though they are among the substances to watch. The presence of EDCs in aquatic systems is often attributed to the discharges of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) [3][4][5] but this type of scenario is deemed highly complex due to the mixture of contaminants and the high variability of their concentrations.…”

Distribution of vitellogenin in zebrafish (Danio rerio) tissues for biomarker analysis

“…Exposure to EDCs can be harmful to human health and wildlife, as these chemicals can disrupt the endocrine, reproductive and immune systems (Colborn et al, 1993), which will render organisms more susceptible to infections (Milla et al, 2011;Nakamura and Kariyazono, 2010;Schug et al, 2011) and many other problems, ranging from behavioral deficits to infertility to chronic disease (Colborn et al, 1993;Diamanti-Kandarakis et al, 2009;Roig et al, 2013).…”

Fifty Years Since Silent Spring

“…Chen et al (25) conclude that fertilizer and herbicide applications are a major factor in increased problems with invasive weeds. Third, unless there are major changes in pesticide policy, growers' pesticide costs will not include the full costs of negative agricultural (25,52), health (8,90,103,104,126,134), and environmental consequences (11,48). Fourth, our current agriculture systems and crop genotypes have been selected for, in some cases, in fields with intensive pesticide use instead of in fields with minimal pesticide use.…”