It finds us all....
What are Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)?
Today, we live in a world where living “chemical free” is unavoidable. There are extra chemicals in our clothes and furniture to be flame retardant, in our plastics to make them last longer, in our food to make them look a different color, and in our water simply because they weren’t filtered out. This chemical-filled environment isn’t a place of waste that is quarantined with high fences and reactive barrels buried deep in the ground, this chemical-filled environment is what we are living amongst...we are literally bathing in it.
These chemicals in our environment are sometimes in the form of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are environmental pollutants that interfere with a person’s natural endocrine-system function. These chemicals can cause side-effects at a range of doses, and sometimes have the worst effects at very minute doses. The endocrine-system produces hormones responsible for controlling everything from sleep patterns, metabolism and growth, mood, to the reproductive cycle. EDCs are chemicals that mimic the actions of the endocrine-system using lab synthesized, similarly structured hormone “look-a-likes”, that act like your bodies natural hormones, but often with adverse effects. For instance, Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthesized estrogen mimic developed as a possible birth control, but when found it wasn’t suitable for birth-control, companies began using it as plasticizer to strengthen plastic bottles. Imagine that every time you eat out of a plastic bowl you ingest a low dose of estrogen. That is what living with EDCs means for us.
Who is exposed?
Because EDCs are present in canned foods, low-income families are at a high risk for exposure as canned foods are cheap, have a long shelf life, and are often given out by food banks. Low-income families are also more likely to consume pre-made meals for the same reasons, and those pre-prepared meals are typically full of EDCs from plastic and the preservatives in the food.
Women are another group that is high risk for exposure. Cosmetics including make-up and lotions often contain BPA and other plasticizers, and we rub them into our skin for use.
Another surprising source of exposure is from smell. That new car smell we love so much? It's and endocrine disruptor! Not so nice anymore. That "new furniture" smell? Also an EDC. The fresh food we consume is possibly sprayed with a pesticide that may act as an EDC, non-organic beef too.
See this chart for common EDCs, their mode of exposure and their risk:
Today, we live in a world where living “chemical free” is unavoidable. There are extra chemicals in our clothes and furniture to be flame retardant, in our plastics to make them last longer, in our food to make them look a different color, and in our water simply because they weren’t filtered out. This chemical-filled environment isn’t a place of waste that is quarantined with high fences and reactive barrels buried deep in the ground, this chemical-filled environment is what we are living amongst...we are literally bathing in it.
These chemicals in our environment are sometimes in the form of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are environmental pollutants that interfere with a person’s natural endocrine-system function. These chemicals can cause side-effects at a range of doses, and sometimes have the worst effects at very minute doses. The endocrine-system produces hormones responsible for controlling everything from sleep patterns, metabolism and growth, mood, to the reproductive cycle. EDCs are chemicals that mimic the actions of the endocrine-system using lab synthesized, similarly structured hormone “look-a-likes”, that act like your bodies natural hormones, but often with adverse effects. For instance, Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthesized estrogen mimic developed as a possible birth control, but when found it wasn’t suitable for birth-control, companies began using it as plasticizer to strengthen plastic bottles. Imagine that every time you eat out of a plastic bowl you ingest a low dose of estrogen. That is what living with EDCs means for us.
Who is exposed?
Because EDCs are present in canned foods, low-income families are at a high risk for exposure as canned foods are cheap, have a long shelf life, and are often given out by food banks. Low-income families are also more likely to consume pre-made meals for the same reasons, and those pre-prepared meals are typically full of EDCs from plastic and the preservatives in the food.
Women are another group that is high risk for exposure. Cosmetics including make-up and lotions often contain BPA and other plasticizers, and we rub them into our skin for use.
Another surprising source of exposure is from smell. That new car smell we love so much? It's and endocrine disruptor! Not so nice anymore. That "new furniture" smell? Also an EDC. The fresh food we consume is possibly sprayed with a pesticide that may act as an EDC, non-organic beef too.
See this chart for common EDCs, their mode of exposure and their risk:
EDCs and Policy
In the past, the US government has made several attempts to protect us from these chemicals in our environment, most recently the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1976. Restricting only five chemicals in the past 38 years, the TSCA has shown no improvement in protecting public-health or the environment and should be updated. All the TSCA restrictions are on known carcinogens, with none of them being EDCs. In the meantime, we have been exposed to over 80,000 new synthetic chemicals, mostly unregulated and lacking appropriate testing. With the EPA being charged to protect the public from “unreasonable risk of injury to the environment”, it is discomforting to know that EDCs have not been well regulated, thus highlighting issue of what makes for effective policy.
In the UK, EDCs are now being classified as a family of toxins. This new designation could alter just how much EDCs are being used and disposed up. Often, toxins are associated with immediate painful or life threatening effects, which EDCs doesn't technically fall under. However, what if I told you we were taking in a chemical that, over time could eventually cause our race to be unable to reproduce? That is exactly what is happening to some of our wildlife.
EDCs and Money
It is ironic that low-income families are some of the most susceptible to EDC exposure, yet it is estimated that the effects of EDCs will cost billions in health care costs. The potential neurological and physiological effects of our long-term hormone treatments has medical repercussions, and they're expensive.
By cutting costs and using these EDCs in plasticizers and preservatives now, we will be paying for it later.
In the past, the US government has made several attempts to protect us from these chemicals in our environment, most recently the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1976. Restricting only five chemicals in the past 38 years, the TSCA has shown no improvement in protecting public-health or the environment and should be updated. All the TSCA restrictions are on known carcinogens, with none of them being EDCs. In the meantime, we have been exposed to over 80,000 new synthetic chemicals, mostly unregulated and lacking appropriate testing. With the EPA being charged to protect the public from “unreasonable risk of injury to the environment”, it is discomforting to know that EDCs have not been well regulated, thus highlighting issue of what makes for effective policy.
In the UK, EDCs are now being classified as a family of toxins. This new designation could alter just how much EDCs are being used and disposed up. Often, toxins are associated with immediate painful or life threatening effects, which EDCs doesn't technically fall under. However, what if I told you we were taking in a chemical that, over time could eventually cause our race to be unable to reproduce? That is exactly what is happening to some of our wildlife.
EDCs and Money
It is ironic that low-income families are some of the most susceptible to EDC exposure, yet it is estimated that the effects of EDCs will cost billions in health care costs. The potential neurological and physiological effects of our long-term hormone treatments has medical repercussions, and they're expensive.
By cutting costs and using these EDCs in plasticizers and preservatives now, we will be paying for it later.
"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it, but in the end,
there it is."
-Winston Churchhill
Learning Outcomes 4, 5