The European Environment Agency, EEA, has warned that products containing endocrine disrupting chemicals should be treated with caution until their true effects are better known. A few such chemicals have already been banned, but many are still in widespread use.
Recent studies have shown that endocrine disruption has serious effects on wildlife. Impact on people has not been demonstrated yet, but agencies like EEA and the EPA are looking into the issue.
Chemicals of interest include: phthalates, often found in pesticides; bisphenol A and other PCBs, used to make plastics; parabens, found increasingly in sunscreen; and the chemicals used in contraceptive pills. The concern is that not a single compound is dangerous, but taken as a whole the danger is not fully understood. This includes the potential interactions between teh various compounds. This makes the problem difficult to study.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body’s hormone systems, which is why some of the most common are those found in the contraceptive pill.
The EEA study is the first to take a comprehensive review of the evidence gathered over the past 15 years, and it concludes that there is cause for concern. According to the study, EDCs have been found to be connected to a higher incidence of breast cancer, and an earlier onset of puberty, as well as to male fertility problems including lower semen quality.
Ways of dealing with EDC’s included stricter treatment of sewage, such as installing sand filtration, membrane filtration and using ozone to purify water.