Pollution, includes air, water, and pollution from land and other chemicals, and toxic occupation exposures, is the leading cause of premature death globally with more than 90% of pollution related deaths, occurring in low and middle income countries.
Pollution is the leading cause of premature death globally.
Fossil fuels contribute to chemical pollution, through production of petrochemicals, many of which interfere with endocrine disrupting hormonal functions.
Petrochemical production is increasing and individuals are exposed through contaminated air, water, food, and manufactured products, such as plastics, pesticides, building materials, and cosmetics.
The production, distribution, and disposal of plastics and other materials made from petrochemicals, and their subsequent degradation,leads to a cycle of exposure to humans to endocrine, disrupting chemicals (EDC’s) from contaminated air, food, drinking water, and soil.
Such exposures can occur in home, school, and workplace indoor environments and from multiple consumer and building products.
Chemical pollution is estimated to be responsible for at least 1.8 million deaths globally each year, and this is a probable underestimate.
Less than 5% of approximately 350,000 chemicals registered for global use have been adequately studied and most countries do not require testing for chemical health harm or disclosure of use.
Chemical pollution is related to the extraction, production and use of fossil fuels from coal, oil, and gas production.
Fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change.
Fossil fuel, derived chemicals, known as petrol chemicals interfere with the function of the endocrine system.
Such endocrine disrupting chemicals are present in every day products, and industrial products which include: plastics, building materials, toys, fabrics, dyes, detergents, cosmetics, and pesticides.
Exposures to petrochemicals is linked to multiple adverse health processes, including cancer, neurodevelopmental harm, and infertility.
Fossil fuel consumption and petro chemical production are more than 15 times higher than they were in the 1950s.
Between 1990 and 2019 increases in the rates of neurodevelopmental disorders, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer range from 28 to 158%: It is concluded that the exposure to chemicals and pollution, including endocrine disruptors are an important risk factor for multiple diseases and health inequities and probably contributes to these increases.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals increase health risks, including cancer, neural development, and infertility.
The health effects of fossil fuel derived endocrine disruptors are increased risk with exposures during fetal and child development and exposures that occur with low exposure levels.
Endocrine disrupting chemical exposures are higher in communities of color and low income communities and contribute to health inequalities.
Endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDCs)is an exogenous chemical(s) that interferes with any aspect of hormonal action.
EDC’s can disrupt hormonal activity: interfere with hormone receptors, change hormone synthesis, distribution, circulation, metabolism, epigenetic changes, altering hormone receptor expression, or transport across cell membranes.
Disruption of hormonal activity can creates downstream health conditions, including impaired ovarian development, decreased sperm quality, metabolic abnormalities of obesity and diabetes, hormone sensitive cancers – breast, prostate, and testicular cancers, and neural developmental harms with decrements in IQ and increased attention deficit, hyperactivity disorders.
No risk free level of exposure to EDCs exists.
Embryonic and fetal development are sensitive to EDC changes, and health effects can be manifested at birth that include low, birth weight, preterm birth, and birth defects in children, along with neurodevelopmental effects, or in adult manifestations of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Prenatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants) increases the risk of IQ decrements in children, and can alter thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy.
Low levels of thyroid hormones in pregnant women is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in their children.
Bisphenol a plasticizer known to mimic estrogen, likely increase the risk of immunotoxic effects of asthma or allergy, neurotoxic effects, and toxic effects on female reproductive system.
EDC’s can be transmitted to subsequent generations through alterations in the epi-genome.
Food supplies are contaminated with EDC’s through agricultural pesticide use, processing of chemicals and packaging with indirect contamination from fossil fuel pollutants in the environment.
Personal care products and cleaning products usually include EDC’s.
In utero exposure to DDT can influence the estrogen system and is associated with increased risk for hypertension and breast cancer during adulthood.
Flame retardants, polyfluoroalkyl, phthates, are commonly found in building materials, consumer products, artificial turf, carpet stain, resistant fabrics, flooring, cabinets, insulation furniture, foam, computers, and other electronics: aDCs can migrate from the source is an aggregate in dust, with exposure to people, through inhalation, ingestion, or dermal absorption.
Evaluation of >40 chemicals in household dust found many contained EDC‘s, including the above substances.
Oil spills, leaching from landfills, and the use of contaminated water has led to extensive pollution of drinking and groundwater in the US from petrochemical EDCs.
Because of the widespread exposure to multiple petrochemical derived endocrine disruptive chemicals in products and the environment, studies have found approximately 150 chemicals in urine and blood, including samples from pregnant patients.
Such exposures include heavy metals, agrochemicals, flame, retardance, petrol chemicals, found in plastic and rubber, personal care, products, and food, additives, and chemicals emitted during industrial processing.
These findings represent only a fraction of potential EDC exposures as present detection technology can measure less than one percent of total chemicals in use.
PFAS our class of approximately 15,000 chemicals widely used in nonstick applications – cookware and food, packaging, water and stain resistant clothing, and carpets, and plastic production to coat items, such as bottles and process food containers.
Evidence linking multiple chemicals of this type with increase risk of adverse health outcomes: reduced fetal growth, dyslipidemia, decreased antibody response to vaccines, increased risk of kidney cancer, and some limited evidence of gestational hypertension, and pre-eclampsia, breast, testicular cancer, and thyroid dysfunction.
Phthates are a class of chemical compounds that are primarily used as plasticizers.
They are additives that increase the flexibility, transparency, and durability of plastics.
Some phthalates have been linked to reproductive and developmental issues, endocrine disruption, and other health problems.
A number of these chemicals have been shown to be anti-androgenic, inhibiting testosterone production, with evidence of adverse effects on male and female reproduction, and increased risk of metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance and diabetes.
Embryonic and fetal development are sensitive to EDC induced effect and even with low exposure in utero manifest as low birth weight, preterm birth and birth defects, neurodevelopmental effects in childhood, and adult malignant and cardiovascular disease.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exposure increases IQ decrements in children, and can alter thyroid hormone levels in pregnancy.
The exposure during development to bisphenol A, a plasticizer known to mimic estrogen, increases immunotoxic effects of allergy, asthma, and has toxic effects on the female reproductive system.
In utero exposure to DDT is associated with increased risks of hypertension and cancer in adulthood.
Evidence suggest EDCs can be transmitted to subsequent generations by alterations in the epigenome.
Bisphenols are aromatic compounds used in polycarbonate plastic products, such as water bottles, food storage containers, packaging, and eyeglasses, epoxy resin liners of aluminum cans , and another consumer products, such as thermal paper receipts.
Exposure to these chemicals, have multiple adverse effects on health.
EDC exposures and health outcomes based on serum and urine levels are distributed unequally among populations: pesticides, heavy metals, and chemicals found in consumer and personal care products among Hispanic and Black women are persistently higher, sometimes more than four times higher than that of White women.
Black, Latino or low income communities account for the majority people who reside near thousands of US facilities, producing, storing, or using highly toxic chemicals, many of which are petrochemical.y derived EDC’s.
Workers are exposed on average to higher concentrations of EDC’s, including pesticides, heavy metals, phthalates than the general population.