We are constantly assaulted by estrogens in our environment—from the food we eat to the chemicals we use or are exposed to. Estrogen in the form of chemicals (xenoestrogens), or foods and plants (phytoestrogens), mimic the action of estrogen produced in cells and can alter hormonal activity.
Xenoestrogens are a category of EDC’s, Endocrine Disrupting Compounds that are industrially made chemical compounds which disrupt communication within the bodies’ endocrine/ hormone producing organs. Xenoestrogens are a group of man made laboratory synthesized chemicals that are hormonally active agents that differ from phytoestrogens and can be divided into pharmacological estrogens and agents that have an unintended detrimental estrogenic effect.
Found in Pesticides, Children’s products, Food contact materials, Electronics and Building materials, Personal care products, Antibacterials, Textiles.
There is good reason to suspect that increasing chemical production and use is related to the growing incidence of endocrine-associated over the past 20 years, including
- imbalance in women’s hormones known as estrogen dominance
- girls and boys beginning puberty too early, which can lead to health problems later in life
- male reproductive problems (cryptorchidism, hypospadias, testicular cancer)
- abnormal growth of mammary tissues in men known as “man boobs”
- other health issues in men including hair loss, atherosclerosis, prostate problems, lowered libido, and impotency
- neurobehavioral disorders
- brain, breast, prostate cancers
- leukemia
