Endocrine disruptors are naturally occurring chemical compounds or man-made chemicals that do exactly what their name implies. They disrupt, or interfere with, the appropriate functioning of your endocrine system and the hormones that system produces. They bring about negative effects in neurological, immune, developmental, and reproductive systems in both humans and animals.
These chemicals can either shut off, turn on, or change the signals carried by hormones, and they can significantly affect how the target cells or organs function.
Research has shown how these effects work both in animals and humans.
Environmental hormones that mimic estrogen have been studied the most. Other endocrine disruptors that produce antiestrogen, antiandrogen, androgen, progesterone, and thyroid-like activity have been found.
Continuing research is being conducted into whether endocrine disruptors have an adverse effect on fertility in humans, whether they stimulate an increase in endometriosis, and whether they can increase some types of cancers. These disruptors
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