the endocrine disruption exchange known as TEDx is a us-based nonprofit organization founded in 2003 by environmental health analyst dr. Theo Colborn at TEDx we compile and disseminate scientific evidence on the health and environmental damage caused by low-level exposure to chemicals that affect our hormone or endocrine system known as endocrine disruptors to understand endocrine disruption you must first know a little about the endocrine system the endocrine system is involved in every stage of life including conception development in the womb and throughout early life puberty adulthood and aging it orchestrates development and growth reproduction intelligence and behavior metabolism immune function and much more the endocrine system works through hormones such as estrogen x' androgens the thyroid hormones also brain metabolic and immune system hormones and many other signaling molecules in the body The Endocrine Society defines an endocrine disrupter as an exogenous chemical meaning from outside the body or a mixture of chemicals that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action the health effects of endocrine disruptors were first recognized in the late 1980s through an extensive review of the scientific literature dr. Colborne identified numerous problems among the fish and wildlife living in and around the North American Great Lakes in this chart you see that bald eagles beluga whales chinook salmon herring gulls snapping turtles and many other species had reproductive abnormalities birth defects in their offspring an overall population decline none of the birds or fish examined had normal thyroid glands other findings included weakened eggshells male birds with female organs and parents abandoning their nests these effects are all disruptions of hormonal systems at the same time studies were being conducted on the children of pregnant women who had eaten large quantities of contaminated fish from the Great Lakes the children with higher levels of PCBs in their umbilical cords weighed less and had poor cognitive function at age 4 at age 11 they were more impulsive had lower IQ scores poor attention memory and reading comprehension in 1991 a work session was held with scientists from 17 different disciplines to discuss their related findings it included wildlife biologists anthropologist endocrinologist toxicologists and more the book published as a result of this meeting described the profound consequences of environmental endocrine disruptors on animals fish wildlife and humans it was at this meeting that the word endocrine disruption was first used most of the endocrine disrupters we know of are made from the byproducts of extracting processing and burning fossil fuels including coal oil and natural gas chemicals derived from these byproducts are components of flame retardants food additives pesticides plastics dyes preservatives and more they are found in our home schools and workplaces food and food packaging toys clothing cosmetics sunscreens medical supplies electronics furniture cleaning products building materials the list goes on we eat drink and touch endocrine disrupting chemicals every day they're in our soil our water and the very air we breathe some remain in our bodies and accumulate over time others are metabolized and excreted quickly but they are so prevalent at any time they can be measured in nearly everyone tested they've been found in people's blood urine stool saliva tears and perspiration they are even found in human placenta amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood concentrations are typically higher in children than in adults chemicals that affect the endocrine system are particularly troublesome because hormones act at very low levels in the body thus chemicals in the environment acting on the hormone system can cause detrimental effects at extremely low levels most concerning are chemicals that have effects within the range that humans are exposed to them in addition because hormones control how our bodies develop prenatal and early childhood exposure to endocrine disruptors can have permanent changes in how we develop and function by the time we are born our future health has been programmed in by our womb environment environment is the keyword genetic inheritance cannot explain the relatively recent and dramatic increases in many disorders which have been shown to be endocrine related these include autism ADHD asthma obesity and diabetes Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease thyroid disorders infertility many types of cancer and more the increasing incidence of these conditions coincides with the introduction of modern synthetic chemicals in our world and there is now scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that these conditions are in part the result of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals as part of our mission TEDx has compiled thousands of scientific studies on the endocrine effects of different chemicals over the years many people including policy makers and chemical safety regulators have asked us for a validated list of endocrine disrupting chemicals a few years ago we began to develop such a list our goal was to create a list of chemicals with one or more published accessible primary scientific studies demonstrating effects on the endocrine system the initial list was released in 2011 we recently upgraded it and added sources and uses for each chemical which makes it a much more useful and informative resource there are nearly 1,000 chemicals on the list and many more will be added in the near future this list of a thousand chemicals is just the tip of the iceberg there are hundreds of thousands of chemicals in existence most of which have never been tested for endocrine disruption in fact the way that governments typically assess chemicals for their safety referred to as risk assessment does not work for endocrine disruptors for several reasons first government agencies don't require chemicals to be tested at the very low concentrations at which hormones function in fact they look for effects at higher doses and assume that lower doses are safe without actually testing the exposures they declare are safe what they really need to do is test chemicals and exposures that are comparable to what humans are exposed to second typical endpoints and government tests are organ weights birth defects deformities cancer and death test for n disruption need to be relevant and sensitive to hormone function across the broad spectrum of biological systems that hormones govern third hormones affect us in different ways at different times during our lives critical periods of exposure include prenatal and early childhood development puberty pregnancy and even reproductive senescence the effects of exposure during these time points should be measured for regulatory purposes fourth endocrine related health effects can show up at any stage in life for example prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors can lead to effects that don't manifest until adulthood endocrine disruption can also affect the children and grandchildren of the exposed generation government testing needs to reflect these long term multi-generational effects the uniqueness and complexity of endocrine disruption demands intelligent careful thought in order to develop a regulatory framework that protects us from harmful exposures families and indeed entire nations are struggling under the physical emotional and a financial burden of endocrine disruption in the u.s. we spend over a trillion dollars a year treating endocrine related disorders better treatments are not the answer it's time to focus on prevention and that's where a little bit of good news comes in you can't change your genes but you can change your environment you can tell your politicians we need better laws to reduce our exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and you can do your best to avoid unnecessary exposure it's not always easy a good simple motto is learn more use less remember that learn more use less the TEDx List is the first step in learning how to make smart choices in what we eat drink breathe and put on our skin it is for our own good and the good of the next several generations to come I would like to thank the entire TEDx staff and of course our many supportive funding sources you can find more information on our website at endocrine disruption org