Have you heard of endocrine disruptors?

Have you heard of endocrine disruptors?

As told by Dr. Nicolás Olea, a physician and professor at the University of Granada, oncologist at the Clinical Hospital of Granada, Director of Research at the San Cecilio Clinical-University Hospital, and Spain's representative to the European Commission on endocrine disruptors, these are chemical substances, many of them environmental pollutants, that once inside the body modify the balance of hormones.

Hormones, as is well known, are chemical messengers secreted by organs and released into the bloodstream to reach target organs. There, they bind to specific receptors, triggering the desired hormonal effect. For example, testosterone synthesis occurs in the testes in men, regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus according to blood levels; in the target organ, it produces the development of sexual organs and secondary sexual characteristics (muscle mass, beard, voice changes, etc.).

These chemical signals can be blocked, increased, or decreased by another chemical compound that mimics the hormone, taking its place and competing for the hormone receptor. The result of this interference is the alteration of the hormonal system, with consequences for neurological and reproductive development and metabolic disorders. We are all exposed to chemical substances that can alter our hormonal system and cause numerous health problems with irreversible effects.

Scientific research has linked endocrine disruptors to a wide range of diseases, including:

• Female reproductive health (precocious puberty, breast cancer, decreased fertility).
• Male reproductive health (genital malformations in infants, decreased semen quality, testicular and prostate cancer).
• Metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes).
• Cardiovascular problems.
• Neurological alterations and diseases (disturbances in neurological development and behavioral alterations, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, etc., and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's).

Their impacts can also be perceptible for a generation or two despite never having been directly exposed to the disruptors. For example, Nicolás Olea, in his more than 30 years of research on the evolution of breast cancer, collected results from the analysis of placentas from women in Granada who gave birth at the Clinical-University Hospital of Granada. These studies demonstrated that 99% of the placentas contained traces of DDT (banned since 1986), as they are bioaccumulative chemicals. Also detected were bisphenol-A, organochlorines, and organobromines present in Teflon and Gore-Tex (although we appreciate it so much for its insulating capacity, Gore-Tex is another bioaccumulative hormonal disruptor).

Where else are these compounds found? They can be part of packaging, cosmetics, clothing, toys, construction materials... there are more than a thousand substances identified as endocrine disruptors. Some of these chemicals are already banned in the European Union, but others are not. It is true that worrying about the toxic substances that surround us is unpleasant and sometimes difficult to solve. However, being aware of it is the first step in seeking healthier alternatives.

In the case of cosmetics, this problem has an easy solution: natural and organic cosmetics.

Some of the ingredients in conventional cosmetics that act as endocrine disruptors are phthalates, parabens, formaldehyde, and the preservatives BHA and BHT. If you want to know more about these substances, how to identify them on cosmetic labels, and some of the studies that support their harmful effects on health, visit our link: https://www.cosmeticsherbera.com//blog/que-contienen-los-cosmeticos-convencionales/

You can obtain more information on the website: https://libresdecontaminanteshormonales.wordpress.com

and through the European campaign www.edc-free-europe.org carried out to raise awareness among citizens about the health damages of endocrine disruptors.

Identify these toxic substances on your cosmetic labels and do not use them. Choose natural and safe substances for you and your loved ones.

Bibliographic references:

• Arrebola JP, Fernández MF, Olea N, Ramos R, Martin-Olmedo. Human exposure to p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) in urban and semi-rural areas in southeast Spain: A gender perspective. P. Sci Total Environ (2013).
• Olea N. Endocrine disruptors: Possible intervention measures. The European perspective. Quadern CAPS, 29 (2000), pp. 36-42
• Mariana F. Fernández, Francisco Artacho-Cordón, Carmen Freire, Rocío Pérez-Lobato, Irene Calvente, Rosa Ramos, Ane M. Castilla, Olga Ocón, Cristina Dávila,Juan P. Arrebola, Nicolás Olea, Trends in children’s exposure to second-hand smoke in the INMA-Granada cohort: An evaluation of the Spanish anti-smoking law. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115000730