In our everyday life, we breathe, eat and live in an environment which has a huge impact due to environmental disruption by chemical substances.

Its linked not only to diabetes, obesity and carcinogenic risk, but also to a host of endocrine disorders. Banning plastic in some states as well as better waste disposal systems in public health in some parts of India are proactive moves to interrupt the chain of chemical disruptors.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) threaten to impact morbidity and even longevity related to many endocrinopathies. Even early puberty to gynecomastia are linked to food consumption with such harmful endocrine disruptors.

Endocrine disruptors are substances known or suspected to inhibit or disrupt the function of endocrine systems of human and animals. Many EDCs are bioaccumulative. Instead of breaking down, or being eliminated after they are eaten, they concentrate up the food chain, to higher concentrations. EDCs are environmental chemicals that perturb normal endocrine hormonal signaling, disrupt development or physiology. EDCs may target the steroid nuclear receptor family of transcriptional factors.

Potential human health impacts of EDCs – Behavioral changes; cancers; type 2 diabetes; fertility decline; compromised immunity; neurological effects; intergenerational/heritable implications.

Some persistent pesticides show strong dose-response relation to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.

It is hypothesized that environmental agents act during development to control adipose tissue development and to control food intake and metabolism, thereby altering the programming of the obesity “set-point” or sensitivity for developing obesity later in life.

The Swedish Environment Committee has proposed that if a chemical is bioaccumulative or persistent, it should not be used in products, or released into the environment, thus bypassing the long and tedious scientific and political arguments about toxicity.

Phase out the worst substances immediately: Persistent, bioaccumulative toxic chemicals; known EDCs and others as identified. Design factories and plants so that they do not release their waste into the environment – in or outside the plant gates.

Personal precautions – Don’t put plastics in microwave; eat organic food as much as possible; avoid plastic for food or water; use clean, EDC free water.