Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: The Bad Guys Disrupting Your Hormones

Enlightenment Is Not Always Fun
We learned something new this week and we want to share, but be prepared, it’s not pretty. Today we’ll be talking about Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemical (EDC) - an exogenous substance or mixture that alters function(s) of the endocrine system and consequently causes adverse health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, or (sub) populations. 1

In normal-people words, EDCs make your hormones wacko and can interfere with healthy hormonal processes including reproduction, growth, sexual development, blood sugar regulation, and more. 2 Yikes!
If you’re like us, you probably want to know where these EDCs are and how to stay away from them. Unfortunately, completely keeping clear of them is pretty much impossible.
We are exposed daily through contaminated water, air, food, and soil. 3 With EDCs popping up at every turn it’s no wonder so many of us deal with conditions that have been linked to them, including women’s reproductive disorders such as PCOS, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and more. 4 And the gentlemen don’t get a free pass either, EDCs have been linked to poor sperm quality, male infertility, and male urogenital structural abnormalities.3

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Yeah, But I Don’t Want Kids, So Who Cares?

If you don’t want kids, you may be thinking, “My private parts look fine, work well, and I’m not planning to make a baby so, so what?” 

Slow your roll there my friend because EDCs are also linked to thyroid problems as well as many types of cancers, and nobody is OK with that. 5 Gah! What can we do?!

Learn to Recognize Them

The first step in avoidance is recognition, right? I mean, it’s pretty hard to avoid something if you don’t know what it looks like. Let’s go over some of the most common and pervasive EDCs. We’ll identify several different types and then tell you what products they’re typically found in:

• Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) are commonly used in sofas, mattresses, clothing, and electronics because they help keep things from catching fire. While this is good fire safety, it’s not good hormone safety.5

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) were officially banned by the EPA in 1979, but products containing them are still widely found in homes predating the ban. PCBs can be found in products ranging from insulation, to caulking, to paints, and more.5

• Phthalates are chemicals found in many kinds of plasticware for the kitchen, including cups, plastic wraps, and water bottles. These chemicals can have detrimental effects on thyroid health and male reproductive health, so many companies have voluntarily stopped using them. The most common types are: BBP, DBP, DEHP, DEP, DiDP, DiNP, DnHP, and DnOP. All of these compounds have been banned both in the United States and in the European Union, however many products, especially children’s products, still contain them if they predate the ban and/or come from a country that has not banned them.5 AND, there are many phthalates that were not banned by the FDA and can still be found in products for sale in the USA. Plastics that contain phthalates can be identified by the number “3” and the letter “V” or by the letters “PVC” in or near the recycling symbol.5

• Bisphenol A (BPA) is one EDC we’ve probably all heard of. It’s linked to reduced egg viability in humans and has been banned from children’s products. However, it’s still used in food containers such as plastic water bottles and food cans.1