Endocrine disruptors, or environmental hormones, used in plastics, pesticides, herbicides, surfactants, etc., are substances that disrupt the function of the endocrine system (homeostasis, reproduction, behavior, etc.), which produces many hormones, in minute amounts, and are harmful to wildlife and humans. You may say, “I know that – but lots of people use plastic water bottles and put food in plastic containers and heat it up in the microwave. Experiments on animals have shown that many chemicals can interfere with the development and function of the endocrine system, which can affect behavior, reproduction, growth, survival, and disease resistance. Reports of recovery in wildlife populations and reduction in health problems as a result of bans and restrictions on the use of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are also documented in a report jointly released by WHO, UNEP, and the International Labor Organization, “Global Assessment of the Scientific Findings on Endocrine Disrupting Substances. However, it appears that most people are completely unaware of this crisis. Don’t you all know that nonylphenol (abbreviated NP), a chemical used as an industrial detergent, sometimes causes the phenomenon of feminization deformity, in which male medaka fish develop “testicular eggs” in which the same cells develop as the ovaries of females? And can we say that these things have no effect on humans at all?
The differentiation and development of the genitalia continues throughout gestation under the guidance of various sex hormones (e.g., estrogen and testosterone) secreted by the endocrine system. For both males and females, the entire process of reproductive organ development is said to be exquisitely sensitive to minute changes in sex hormone levels, especially during certain critical periods of development.
Gonads is basically another name for testes and ovaries, and unless any baby, boy or girl, is signaled to “be testes,” these glands are basically pre-programmed to be ovaries. This gene commands your gonads to become testes instead of ovaries and begin producing testosterone and androgens. These hormones travel throughout the body and bind to cell receptors. If there is some substance or environmental disruptor that interferes with the normal functioning of the androgen receptor, it is very likely that the masculinization of the male external genitalia will be incomplete.
Estrogen is a female sex hormone that promotes feminization. Since estrogen receptors are located in the cells, estrogen passes through the cell membrane and enters the cell. If EDCs are analogues of these substances, which can also pass through the cell membrane, bind to the estrogen receptor in a key-hole relationship, and turn the switch on, it is conceivable that feminization can proceed (the receptor is present in males as well). It is an analog of androgens (male sex hormones), which bind to androgen receptors and inhibit androgen binding, which may inhibit malefication and consequently lead to femalefication.
Although it is very difficult to detect evidence of disruption of hypothalamic sex differentiation in humans, anogenital distance (AGD), i.e., the distance between the rectum and the base of the penis, may be a useful biomarker of fetal androgen exposure, and thus may alter brain desexualization/masculinization It has been suggested that this may result in changes in brain de-feminization/masculinization.
Due to prenatal androgen-induced masculinization, AGD is longer in men than in women. So, when men have short AGD, fertility, sperm quality, and circulating androgen levels are reduced, and male-specific play patterns are reduced.
Fetal exposure to acetaminophen (paracetamol or Tylenol), bisphenol A (BPA), DDT and its primary metabolites, dioxins, phthalates, some organophosphates (OPEs), and dicarboxyimide fungicides such as vinclozolin is believed to cause AGD shortening and consequently impairs hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) masculinization.
And similarly, since longer AGD in women is an indicator of masculinization and ectopic fetal activation of the progesterone receptor (PR) may masculinize the female reproductive organs, as may supraphysiologic administration of potent estrogens, there may be multiple modes of action for AGD length disturbances in women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8484365/
To detect endocrine disruption, AGD measurements have been added to OECD testing guidelines and other regulatory agencies’ developmental and reproductive toxicity testing strategies.
Hypospadias, the second most common birth defect in the United States after heart disease. It occurs in about 1 in 125 to 250 newborn boys, says Dr. Lawrence Baskin, a pediatric urologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who performs corrective surgery for hypospadias at Oakland Children’s Hospital on a part-time basis. It is the curvature of the penis, the abnormality of the urethra, and the foreskin, which together are defined as a hypospadias. Dr. Paskin states, “Environmental disruptors, anything in the environment, chemical toxins, drugs, etc. are definitely risk factors for hypospadias.” In addition, the Suburethral and Supraurethral Cleft Association, a U.S. organization dedicated to raising awareness of two similar genital disorders, conducted an online survey of approximately 700 men with and without those genital conditions. The study found that men with a suburethral cleft were 15% more likely to describe themselves as gay.
And recent animal studies have shown that these chemicals may have transgenerational effects on male and female reproduction. Exposure to these chemicals can adversely affect the reproductive health of future generations from prenatal to adulthood, so we really need to be very careful and cautious about the use of EDCs. If it is possible to prevent masculinization and vice versa, even though the genitals are female, I hope that this will be a necessary common sense in our procreation. We have been measuring blood levels of EDC in research tests, but generally there is no testing available for public. I am hoping that this test becomes common practice in near future, as it would clearly show how much of the body is being poisoned.
Reference
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281309/
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/worlds-plastic-pollution-crisis-explained/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24793993/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1532045621000296
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5784425/
https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/160/6/1421/5473530
https://rep.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/rep/162/5/REP-20-0596.xml
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708138/ ( Do endocrine disruptors cause hypospadias)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2164/jandrol.108.004945
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