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JBRA Assisted Reproduction Apr 2019This review aimed to look into agents and mechanisms characterized as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These agents are known to cause several harmful effects to... (Review)
Review
This review aimed to look into agents and mechanisms characterized as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These agents are known to cause several harmful effects to the reproductive system of women and wildlife. There is a wide range of chemicals, developed for commercial use mainly in agriculture, which may cause endocrine disruption. Numerous studies show evidence of environmental contamination. However, no one is being held liable for the damages. The most important potentially harmful agents are identified and described, along with the different effects they have on the female genital area. Brazil is a large consumer of pesticides and others chemicals that may interfere with a normal women's life. We analyzed and described the mode of action and the impacts of different EDCs (bisphenols, phthalates, atrazine, polychlorinated and polybrominated biphenyls, DDT-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; DDE-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; DDD-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane; and DES-diethylstilbestrol) on the genital area, ovarian steroidogenesis, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, the structure of the uterus and the vagina, and on the formation of leiomyomas.
Topics: Endocrine Disruptors; Environmental Exposure; Female; Genital Diseases, Male; Hazardous Substances; Humans; Male; Ovary; Reproductive Health
PubMed: 30875185
DOI: 10.5935/1518-0557.20190016 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2022Over the years, the vaste expansion of plastic manufacturing has dramatically increased the environmental impact of microplastics [MPs] and nanoplastics [NPs], making... (Review)
Review
Over the years, the vaste expansion of plastic manufacturing has dramatically increased the environmental impact of microplastics [MPs] and nanoplastics [NPs], making them a threat to marine and terrestrial biota because they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals [EDCs] and other harmful compounds. MPs and NPs have deleteriouse impacts on mammalian endocrine components such as hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, testes, and ovaries. MPs and NPs absorb and act as a transport medium for harmful chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ether, polychlorinated biphenyl ether, organotin, perfluorinated compounds, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic contaminants, and heavy metals, which are commonly used as additives in plastic production. As the EDCs are not covalently bonded to plastics, they can easily leach into milk, water, and other liquids affecting the endocrine system of mammals upon exposure. The toxicity induced by MPs and NPs is size-dependent, as smaller particles have better absorption capacity and larger surface area, releasing more EDC and toxic chemicals. Various EDCs contained or carried by MPs and NPs share structural similarities with specific hormone receptors; hence they interfere with normal hormone receptors, altering the hormonal action of the endocrine glands. This review demonstrates size-dependent MPs' bioaccumulation, distribution, and translocation with potential hazards to the endocrine gland. We reviewed that MPs and NPs disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary axes, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid/adrenal/testicular/ovarian axis leading to oxidative stress, reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, cytotoxicity, developmental abnormalities, decreased sperm quality, and immunotoxicity. The direct consequences of MPs and NPs on the thyroid, testis, and ovaries are documented. Still, studies need to be carried out to identify the direct effects of MPs and NPs on the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands.
Topics: Animals; Male; Microplastics; Plastics; Semen; Endocrine Disruptors; Mammals; Hormones
PubMed: 36726457
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1084236 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2017Environmental factors are determinant for the appearance of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) in susceptible subjects. Increased iodine intake, selenium, and vitamin D... (Review)
Review
Environmental factors are determinant for the appearance of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) in susceptible subjects. Increased iodine intake, selenium, and vitamin D deficiency, exposure to radiation, from nuclear fallout or due to medical radiation, are environmental factors increasing AITD. Cigarette smoking is associated with Graves' disease and Graves' ophthalmopathy, while it decreases the risk of hypothyroidism and thyroid autoimmunity. Viral infections are important environmental factors in the pathogenesis of AITD, too, particularly human parvovirus B19 (EVB19) and hepatitis C virus. Among the many chemical contaminants, halogenated organochlorines and pesticides variably disrupt thyroid function. Polychlorinated biphenyls and their metabolites and polybrominated diethyl ethers bind to thyroid transport proteins, such as transthyretin, displace thyroxine, and disrupt thyroid function. Among drugs, interferon- and iodine-containing drugs have been associated with AITD. Moreover intestinal dysbiosis causes autoimmune thyroiditis. To reduce the risk to populations and also in each patient, it is necessary to comprehend the association between environmental agents and thyroid dysfunction.
PubMed: 28373861
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00050 -
Environmental Research Nov 2022In 1973-74, a polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) flame retardant mixture was shipped to Michigan livestock feed mills in place of a nutritional supplement and contaminated...
In 1973-74, a polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) flame retardant mixture was shipped to Michigan livestock feed mills in place of a nutritional supplement and contaminated the food supply. Following the accident, the Michigan PBB Registry was established to study the long-term health effects of halogenated compounds and is now led by a community-academic partnership. PBB exposure is associated with altered DNA methylation in sperm, which may lead to adverse birth outcomes in children whose fathers have increased levels of serum PBB or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). Paternal PBB and PCB levels of men enrolled in the Michigan PBB Registry (n = 155) were analyzed against matched offspring birthweight and gestational age (n = 336). Birthweight and gestational age were dichotomized at the 25th percentile and 37 weeks, respectively, and paternal PBB and PCB levels were examined as continuous measures and divided into tertiles. Associations of offspring birthweight and gestational age with paternal PBB and PCB serum concentrations were modeled using multivariable linear spline and log-risk regression, adjusting for family clustering, paternal health and lifestyle factors, maternal PBB, and PCB serum concentrations, sex, and offspring gestational age (for birthweight). Fathers in the middle and upper PBB and PCB tertiles had increased risks for lowest quartile birthweight compared to the first tertile, with adjusted risk ratios (aRR) = 1.67 (95% CI: 0.93, 2.99) and aRR = 2.06 (95% CI: 1.12, 3.79) for PBB, and aRR = 1.47 (95% CI: 0.79, 2.75) and aRR = 1.34 (95% CI: 0.70, 2.54) for PCB, respectively. Elevated paternal PBB levels were not associated with an increased risk for preterm birth, while PCB levels were associated with a small, but not significant, decrease in gestational age, β = -0.37 (95% CI: -0.76, 0.03) weeks per log unit increase PCB. The findings suggest that increased paternal PBB and PCB levels negatively impact offspring birthweight, and paternal PCB levels may negatively impact gestational age.
Topics: Birth Weight; Child; Environmental Pollutants; Fathers; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Polybrominated Biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Premature Birth; Semen
PubMed: 36041536
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114215 -
Current Opinion in Endocrinology,... Dec 2020This review seeks to evaluate the impact of environmental exposures on the menstrual cycle length detailing timing of exposure on pathophysiology. (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
This review seeks to evaluate the impact of environmental exposures on the menstrual cycle length detailing timing of exposure on pathophysiology.
RECENT FINDINGS
Recent literature has examined the relationship between menstrual cycle length and environmental exposures including air pollutants, parabens, and polybrominated biphenyls.
SUMMARY
Research is limited but suggest importance of further research in evaluating environmental exposures and menstrual cycle length.
Topics: Environmental Exposure; Environmental Pollutants; Female; Humans; Menstrual Cycle; Menstruation Disturbances; Time Factors
PubMed: 33027071
DOI: 10.1097/MED.0000000000000579 -
Andrology Jul 2016The developing brain is remarkably malleable as neural circuits are formed and these circuits are strongly dependent on hormones for their development. For those... (Review)
Review
The developing brain is remarkably malleable as neural circuits are formed and these circuits are strongly dependent on hormones for their development. For those reasons, the brain is very vulnerable to the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during critical periods of development. This review focuses on three ubiquitous endocrine disruptors that are known to disrupt the thyroid function and are associated with neurobehavioral deficits: polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A. The human and rodent data suggesting effects of those EDCs on memory, cognition, and social behavior are discussed. Their mechanisms of action go beyond relative hypothyroidism with effects on neurotransmitter release and calcium signaling.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Benzhydryl Compounds; Cognition; Endocrine Disruptors; Environmental Exposure; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Humans; Memory; Phenols; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Social Behavior; Thyroid Gland
PubMed: 27285165
DOI: 10.1111/andr.12211 -
Environmental Research Jan 2022The 32-mile Detroit River and surrounding tributaries have been designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern due to pollution from decades of municipal and industrial...
The 32-mile Detroit River and surrounding tributaries have been designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern due to pollution from decades of municipal and industrial discharges, sewer overflows and urban development. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services conducted a biomonitoring study to assess exposures to persistent toxic substances in Detroit urban shoreline anglers who may be at high exposure risk due to consumption of locally caught fish. Using a modified venue-based sampling approach, 287 adult shoreline anglers along the Detroit River were recruited and participated in the program. Study participants provided blood and urine specimens and completed a questionnaire interview. In this report, we examine percentile estimates for blood lead, blood manganese, urine arsenic, urine mercury, urine cadmium, organochlorine pesticides in serum (mirex, hexachlorobenzene, chlordane), and serum polybrominated biphenyl 153 (PBB 153) concentrations among study participants. Multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors of contaminant concentrations. The Detroit urban anglers' blood lead concentrations were 2 times higher than the general adult U.S. population (median (95% CI): 2.9 μg/dL (1.8-2.3) vs. 0.94 μg/dL (0.90-0.98)). PBB 153 levels were 1.8 times higher than the general adult U.S. population at the 95th percentile (95th percentile, 95% CI: 62.7 ng/g of lipid, 53.2-75.2 vs. 34.6 ng/g of lipid, 12.8-66.8). Percentile estimates of the other study pollutants were similar to background levels found in the general U.S. population. Eating more locally caught fish was not associated with increased body burdens for any of the contaminants examined in this report. Higher blood lead was associated with increased age, male sex, current smoking, residing in a home built before 1960, an annual income less than $25,000, and a work history of lead paint removal. Evidence of PBB exposure in our study cohort likely reflects the continued effect of a widespread contamination of livestock feed in 1973 among Michigan's lower peninsula population. These study results help determine if the pollutants examined warrant further consideration in subsequent population-based biomonitoring of frequent consumers of fish from the Detroit River and surrounding waterways. The biomonitoring data from this study also served to inform public health officials regarding the potential need for environmental public health actions to reduce harmful exposures.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Biological Monitoring; Fishes; Humans; Male; Mercury; Michigan; Pesticides; Polybrominated Biphenyls
PubMed: 34384752
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111851 -
Comprehensive Physiology Sep 2017We examine the role of adipose tissue, typically considered an energy storage site, as a potential site of toxicant accumulation. Although the production of most... (Review)
Review
We examine the role of adipose tissue, typically considered an energy storage site, as a potential site of toxicant accumulation. Although the production of most persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was banned years ago, these toxicants persist in the environment due to their resistance to biodegradation and widespread distribution in various environmental forms (e.g., vapor, sediment, and water). As a result, human exposure to these toxicants is inevitable. Largely due to their lipophilicity, POPs bioaccumulate in adipose tissue, resulting in greater body burdens of these environmental toxicants with obesity. POPs of major concern include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDDs/PCDFs), and polybrominated biphenyls and diphenyl ethers (PBBs/PBDEs), among other organic compounds. In this review, we (i) highlight the physical characteristics of toxicants that enable them to partition into and remain stored in adipose tissue, (ii) discuss the specific mechanisms of action by which these toxicants act to influence adipocyte function, and (iii) review associations between POP exposures and the development of obesity and diabetes. An area of controversy relates to the relative potential beneficial versus hazardous health effects of toxicant sequestration in adipose tissue. © 2017 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 7:1085-1135, 2017.
Topics: Adipose Tissue; Animals; Diabetes Mellitus; Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds; Environmental Pollutants; Humans; Obesity
PubMed: 28915320
DOI: 10.1002/cphy.c160038 -
Acta Biochimica Polonica May 2019The notion of 'civilization diseases' is used to describe certain ailments whose aetiology is difficult to explain based on the knowledge about the functioning of the... (Review)
Review
The notion of 'civilization diseases' is used to describe certain ailments whose aetiology is difficult to explain based on the knowledge about the functioning of the body and its metabolism. Only studies at the cellular level, on biochemical changes shed light on the causes of some diseases described as civilization diseases (cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, obesity, psychomotor disorders in children and an increase in the frequency of malformations). The factors whose incontestable influence on the increase in the frequency of occurrence of various 'civilization diseases' has been proved are persistent organic pollutants, among others belonging to the group of organohalogen compounds. Among organohalogen pollutants one needs to distinguish organochlorine compounds, which have been used as pesticides, and pollution emitted by various industries such as dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated organic compounds used as flame retardants and perfluoroalkylated substances, which are characterized by high chemical and thermal stability as well as high surface activity due to which they may be widely used as oleophobic and hydrophobic factors.
Topics: Breast Feeding; Child, Preschool; Dioxins; Environmental Exposure; Female; Flame Retardants; Furans; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Neoplasms; Obesity; Pesticides; Polychlorinated Biphenyls
PubMed: 31125391
DOI: 10.18388/abp.2018_2776 -
Environmental Health : a Global Access... May 2022To conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the relationship between endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including polychlorinated... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the relationship between endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), phthalates (PAEs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
METHODS
Relevant studies from their inception to November 2021 were identified by searching EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science. The cohort and case-control studies that reported effect size with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of EDC exposure and GDM were selected. The heterogeneity among the included studies was quantified by I statistic. Publication bias was evaluated through the Begg and Egger tests.
RESULTS
Twenty-five articles with a total of 23,796 participants were found. Results indicated that exposure to PCBs has a significant influence on the incidence of GDM (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 1.00--1.31; n = 8). The risk of GDM was found to be associated with PBDE exposure (OR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.15-1.53; n = 4). PAEs and PFASs exposure were also positively associated with the risk of GDM, with summary ORs of 1.10 (95% CI = 1.03-1.16; n = 7 for PAEs) and 1.09 (95% CI = 1.02-1.16; n = 11 for PFASs), respectively. When only cohort studies were considered, the summary OR between PCBs exposure and the risk of GDM was 0.99 (95% CI = 0.91-1.09; n = 5). Meanwhile, the summary ORs from cohort studies for PBDEs, PAEs, and PFASs exposure were 1.12 (95% CI = 1.00-1.26; n = 2), 1.08 (95% CI = 1.02-1.15; n = 5), and 1.06 (95% CI = 1.00-1.12; n = 8), respectively. The Beggs and Egger tests did not show publication bias, and the sensitivity analyses did not change the results in this meta-analysis.
CONCLUSION
These results support that exposure to certain EDCs, including PCBs, PBDEs, PAEs, and PFAS, increase the risk of GDM. Further large-sample epidemiologic researches and mechanistic studies are needed to verify the potential relationship and biological mechanisms. These results are of public health significance because the daily EDC exposure is expected to increase the risk of GDM development.
Topics: Diabetes, Gestational; Endocrine Disruptors; Environmental Pollutants; Female; Fluorocarbons; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Humans; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Pregnancy
PubMed: 35578291
DOI: 10.1186/s12940-022-00858-8