There are much human health effects that occur from exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). One of the main concern is that this chemical could be responsible for many abnormalities in humans, such as “human sexuality, gender development and behaviors, reproductive capabilities, and sex ratios,” (“Are EDCs Blurring Issues of Gender”).Many of these abnormalities such as reproductive and development have been linked to EDC exposures, which have been documented in birds, frogs, seals, polar bears, and many other forms of wildlife but what these findings mean for humans are still unknown. However, there is strong enough evidence to conclude that EDC does have an effect on wildlife. For example, they found that in bears, the males have shortened penises and low levels of testosterone, while the females have excessive levels of estrogens after being exposed to EDC.
Sex reversal and skewed sex ratios have occurred in several fish populations where colonies are living in close proximity to pulp, paper mills, and sewage treatment plants. Sex reversal is when an animal of one sex matures with the reproductive organs and capabilities of the other sex and skewed sex ratios are when there is an unusually greater proportion of one sex than the other. One of the most significant findings we have found when concluding that EDC does have an effect on the human reproductive tract development is the synthetic estrogen prescribed to millions of pregnant women in the United States from the 1940s to the 1970s in order to prevent miscarriage. The drug is called DES, and it is known to have given many women a rare form of vaginal cancer. Phthalates are used in many consumer products such as solvents, soft plastics, and cosmetics. Many of these products are used every single day which can cause effects in the long run.
The effects include intrauterine exposure and abnormalities in male animals known as an anogenital distance(AGD), which is the distance between the rectum and the base of the penis, which is known as “phthalate syndrome.” One of the first studies conducted was to find a link between AGD and EDC exposure in humans, which was conducted by Shanna Swan. Swan and her colleagues collected data from 85 mother-son pairs, which collected the mother’s urine for the presence of phthalate, while the infant boys aged between 2 and 36 months old were examined for genital developmental characteristics, including AGD. Although no sign of genital malformation was found, “they did discover an association between elevated concentrations of four phthalate metabolites in the mothers and shorter-thanexpected AGI in the infants”. Boys with short AGI were at greater risk to have incomplete testicular descent, this is a risk factor for poor semen quality, which in the long run could cause infertility and even testicular cancer.
