Endocrine disruptors in our everyday lives

The dangers from endocrine disruptors is becoming more immediate. It’s no longer about the effects of previously banned chemicals like PCB’s or DDT. These chemicals are still around but we are now more aware of the threat they cause and have taken steps to limit our exposure to them.
The newest threat from endocrine disruptors comes from the chemicals and products in our everyday lives that we don’t know about. There are more than 100,000 synthetic chemicals present around us in various guises. Most of these are safe. However, there is a significant number of them that still remain unknown in relation to their toxicity and some that have subsequently proven to be a new threat in the form of endocrine disruptors.

 

Endocrine disruptors in Plastics

Over the last few decades a number of common synthetic compounds have been found that display very weak estrogenic properties. These chemicals, unfortunately, have also been found in some of our most common everyday food products.
Through a number of incidental discoveries a group of scientists discovered that certain plastics leached a range of synthetic chemicals into the foods they were protecting.
The need to over wrap products for the convenience of consumers has, in a peculiar way, come back to haunt us. Everyday products like fruits, vegetables and even water are frequently packaged for the sake of convenience and presentation.
Unknown to us, some of the plastics that are used for the packaging are actually leaching chemicals into the products they are supposed to protect.

 

The chemicals in Plastics 

There are three major groups of chemicals found in plastics that have so far been proven to possess weak oestrogenic properties, these are:

• Alkylphenols – This group of chemicals includes the commonly used substances nonylphenol and octylphenol which are used as surfactants in industrial chemicals.
• Biphenolic compounds – Bisphenol A is the most popular chemical used in this group. It has a very similar structure to DES and is used extensively in the production of polycarbonate plastics.
• Phthalates – These are very widely used to make plastics more flexible. They are normally found in PVC. Phthalates are one of the most common man-made chemicals in the environment.

 

Plastics as endocrine disruptors: The evidence

Three families of chemicals used in the production of plastics contained compounds that were proven endocrine disruptors.
Our immediate environment was changing faster than we could ever imagnine. The very chemicals that once made our lives so much easier, were now turning against us. But they were too intergrated into our lives. How could we possibly live without polycarbonate plastics or PVC?

Unfortunately, all the laboratory tests confirmed our worst fears. In the summer of 1995, scientists found that all three chemicals; octylphenol, bisphenol A and butylbenzyl phthalate had significant reproducible effects on the development of male rats.
A low concentration (1 milligram per litre) of each chemical was added to the drinking water of pregnant rats for a period of three weeks. The only exposure that the young rats had to the chemicals was through the mother during pregnancy and when they were breast-fed.
The results of the experiment were irrefutable. The testes of the male rats that were exposed were 5-13% smaller and sperm counts were 10-21% lower than normal unexposed rats. These experiments took place only over a few weeks, whereas in Man the corresponding window of development took place in years. This was indirect evidence that endocrine disruptors in  plastics could adverse effects on the normal development of humans.