Hormones

After attending a recent seminar on Female Hormonal Disorders I delved into the current research into plastics and the chemicals found in them.  The World Health Organizations calls them endocrine-disrupting chemicals and in 2012 stated “disease risk from EDC’s may be significantly underestimated.” There are more than 800 chemicals that disrupt hormone function and the vast majority have never been tested.

These chemicals are most dangerous during developmental periods: conception, pregnancy, early childhood, puberty, and menopause.
They are associated with cancers, behavioral and developmental issues, early puberty and fertility problems.

An EDC is a chemical found outside the body that mimics or alters the endocrine (hormone) system and causes health problems in a person, their offspring and even future generations. Endocrine disrupters exert their effect at levels far below what is considered to be harmful. It is the timing and duration of exposure and not the dose that determines what impact these chemicals have on the body. Often, these health problems don’t become apparent until years down the track.
A 2012 report release by the World Health Organisation1 says many endocrine-related diseases and disorders are on the rise across the world, including low sperm count in men, the incidence of genital malformation such as non-descending testes in baby boys, adverse pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight and pre-term bubs, behavioral disorders associated with thyroid malfunction, endocrine-related cancers (breast, endometrial, ovarian, prostate, testicular and thyroid), obesity and type 2 diabetes.
EDCs were discussed at the International Congress of Andrology held in Melbourne in 2013 and in particular the link between these chemicals and the negative impact on male fertility and testicular cancer. 
In the last 12 months the amount of research papers published on this topic has doubled! A recent […]