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• Data di creazione 31 Dicembre 2011
• Ultimo aggiornamento 2 Maggio 2023

Save the Men – Environmental toxicants affect fertility and development

Hormones regulate everything from mood to gender. They are crucial to metabolism, the nervous system and reproduction. Although the detailed significance of hormones is not fully understood, research shows that there are fine balances between different substances so that a body’s function will be triggered or suppressed. This vitally important chemistry is now threatened by chemicals.

Chemicals that disrupt hormones, known as endocrine disruptors, can strengthen, weaken or short-circuit the signals of the body’s own substances. We have known for some time that individual substances – including DDT, PCBs, DEHP and tributyltin – can affect hormones leading to severe effects, but the properties of most substances are unknown. Studies show that environmental toxicants are spread for example from foods, clothes, toys, cosmetics, hygiene products and electronics, as well as from factory emissions.

No one knows how the resultant cocktail of thousands of substances we live in affects us. Many substances have been found to be or suspected to be endocrine disruptors, but there is great uncertainty over long-term effects and possible combination effects.