Hormone Disruptors.

You may have heard of the phrase “hormone disruptors” before. I’m here to tell you what you need to know! 

We’ll start with a quick biology lesson on the endocrine system. The endocrine system is one of the body’s communication systems. It’s made up of glands/tissues and hormones that are secreted by these glands. Hormones are chemical messages that communicate with our organs at the cellular level. They do so by attaching to receptors in our cells. Hormones are essential to many processes that occur in our body [1]. 

Hormone disruption occurs when a chemical is absorbed into our body that blocks or interrupts the hormone from delivering its message. This can occur by a foreign chemical increasing or decreasing hormone production, blocking the receptors on the cells so that hormones cannot attach, imitating hormones, and even telling cells to die that should not die [2]. Hormone disruptors are essentially terrorists hijacking normal hormone function and wreaking havoc on our systems. 

There has been a lot of research on this topic and specific chemicals can be tied to specific health issues caused by hormone disruption. The top offenders identified by researchers are Bisphenol A (BPA), Dioxins, Perchlorate, Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Phthalates, Phytoestrogens, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and Triclosan [3]. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic can also disrupt hormones [2]. These chemicals around found in so many things we come across every day such as cosmetics, food containers, drinking water, baby food, cookware, kids toys and hand soap (to name a few). 

These chemicals can negatively affect many processes in the body such as reproduction, development, metabolism, etc.. Did you know that having painful periods (while very common) is actually not normal? Did you know that some infertility issues can be linked to exposure to these chemicals? Did you know they can increase risk for diabetes? This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the problems that can be caused by hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

Hormone disruption is a big problem to be solved and a lot of money is being funded to research. Unfortunately we are not able to avoid every single hormone-disrupting chemical all the time but we can make choices daily to swap out things that we use and consume for better choices to over time reduce exposure. All products endorsed by The Clean Life will introduce you to those better options.