I found a website that gives a good overview on endocrine disruptors. The National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS) has a nice short page on chemical endocrine disruptors. They report that endocrine disruptors can be found in everyday products including plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, and pesticides.

NIEHS supports studies to determine the correlation between endocrine disruptors and decreased fertility, increased endometriosis, and some cancers.

NIEHS believes that research shows that endocrine disruptors may pose a severe risk during prenatal and post natal development for developing brain and organs.

Governments that regulate the chemicals assume the chemicals are safe until proven otherwise according to the video on their website.

Endocrine disruptors are able to:

1. Mimic or partially mimic natural hormones that are made by your body such as estrogen, androgens (like testosterone), and thyroid hormones.

2. Bind to a receptor in a cell. They can block the native hormones your body makes. Thus, the normal hormones fail to signal and the body fails to respond normally. These chemicals antagonize hormones and are known as anti-estrogens and anti-androgens.

3. Interfere or block the way Natural Hormones are made or how they work. For instance, the chemicals may alter the metabolism of hormones in the liver. For instance, Polycystic Ovarian Cyst patients (PCOS) have high testosterone. Some PCOS patients actually have facial hair. Some unknown chemical may be stopping the break down of testosterone making the PCOS patient have higher testosterone. Here is the video of one of my patients who got rid of their PCOS by avoiding endocrine disruptors in 90 days.