The Ubiquity of EDCs
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are everywhere. They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
There is no easy way to escape endocrine disruptors.
Nearly every natural activity we do adds to our toxic body burden (the amount of toxic chemicals in our bodies at any given time).
Everyone living the world today has a significant toxic body burden it is an unavoidable consequence of living in this time.
Endocrine disruptors can be found in a wide variety of everyday products ranging from pesticides or herbicides to computers, carpets and baby feeding bottles. They can enter the air and
water as a consequence of various manufacturing processes and through the burning of plastics and other contaminated materials. Endocrine disruptors
can leach out of plastics and are even present in intravenous bags used in hospitals.
The main Route of Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors
Ingestion: Foods are contaminated in a number of ways. They can be packaged with plastics that leach chemicals into them. They may have bioaccumulated the chemical through
the food chain or they may have been treated with synthetic chemicals when processed. Basically, the eating of contaminated food is the main route of exposure for most people.
Inhalation: Quite a few chemicals are now present in the air we breathe. They get into the air when tiny bits break off the products that contain them. They then
become dust particles that are subsequently blown about and breathed in. Some synthetic toxic chemicals, however (like PCBs), are volatile enough to simply vaporize when warm into the surrounding air.
Placenta and Breast–Milk: Unfortunately, this has become a significant route of exposure in recent years. Most endocrine disruptors are sufficiently small in size
to pass easily through the placenta. After birth, a baby will continue to receive more chemicals from its mothers toxic body load through breast-milk. Research as
established that a mother will unload more than 30% of her toxic body burden to her first born child.
Through the skin: Endocrine disruptors (phthalates been an example) are present in a number of skin care products. Frequent use of certain
products on our skins ensures that our toxic body burden is constantly replenished with a variety of well known endocrine disruptors.
We have a responsibility to protect our young. But what can we do to make them safe?
