Environmental Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: A Special Focus on Phthalates and Bisphenol A

Pinar Erkekoglu and Belma Kocer-Gumusel

A chapter in Environmental Health Risk - Hazardous Factors to Living Species from IntechOpen

Abstract: Several environmental chemicals are classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Many of them have an impact on reproductive functions and sex hormones because of their estrogenic and/or antiandrogenic properties. Phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) are two well-known EDCs. They are abundant in the environment. Phthalates are usually classified as antiandrogens, whereas BPA is considered as estrogen-like EDC and xenoestrogen. Other than their endocrine-disrupting effects, these two chemicals are also known to have genotoxic and epigenetic effects. Besides, they are hepatotoxic and have substantial effects on other organs/systems (thyroid, kidney, neuroendocrine system, immune system, etc.). In this chapter, we will mainly focus on the toxic effects of different phthalate esters and BPA by discussing their availability in the environment, mechanism and mode of actions, their biotransformation and reproductive effects, and their effects on other systems (hepatic, renal, etc.). Besides, we discuss epidemiological studies that are conducted to reveal their effects on the reproductive and endocrine systems. This chapter provides the readers a compact piece of knowledge on these abundant substances and helps them to understand the action of these substances at the molecular and cellular levels.

Keywords: endocrine-disrupting chemical; antiandrogen; xenoestrogen; phthalate; bisphenol A (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ito:pchaps:101025

DOI: 10.5772/62455

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