Endocrine Disruptors & The Environment

Your endocrine system is a set of glands and the hormones they produce that help guide and regulate the development, growth, reproduction and behavior of most living things (yes plants too!). Some hormones are also released from parts of the body that aren’t glands, like the stomach, intestines or nerve cells. These usually act closer to where they are released. The endocrine system is made up of glands, which secrete hormones, and receptor cells which detect and react to the hormones. Hormones travel throughout the body, acting as chemical messengers, and interact with cells that contain matching receptors. The hormone binds with the receptor, like a key into a lock. Some chemicals, both natural and human-made, may interfere with the hormonal system. They’re called endocrine disruptors.

Fertility—Infertility & the Environment

The 2006 motion picture “Children of Men” compellingly expressed a silent worldwide consternation: the growing infertility in humans. Sperm counts worldwide are falling. Britain is concerned enough about this issue, according to Environment Minister Michael Meacher, that they are planning to launch a government research program to “investigate whether falling sperm counts are endangering the nation's reproductive capacity”. Testicle abnormalities have occurred with greater frequency over the past 50 years, reflected in increases in testicular cancer and the medical conditions hypospadias (testicles fail to descend) and cryptorchidism (opening to penis appears on the underside of penis), as well as the declining sperm count among the overall male population.