Endocrine disruptors, let your child lose at the starting line!

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A new study in the United States has found that endocrine disruptors pass through the placenta through the mother, having an irreversible effect on the neural development of the fetus.

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Endocrine disruptors are everywhere.

For most people, giving birth is a very important thing in life. In order to give birth to a healthy baby, girls are very cautious in preparing for pregnancy, clothing, food, housing, transportation and other aspects, giving up smoking and alcohol regularly, and some even dare not take medicine when they catch a cold because they are worried about the impact of drugs on pregnancy.

But what they don't know is that even if they are so careful, they may still be close. There is a class of substances that are already affecting the development of the fetus.

Bottled drinks, canned food, etc., I believe we often come into contact with in daily life. A new study by US scientists shows that these things contain a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors, which can affect a boy's IQ if exposed before pregnancy.

Endocrine disruptors (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, namely EDCs) are a class of exogenous chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system, including Bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalate esters (phthalates), polychlorinated biphenyls, flame retardants, pesticides and other similar substances.

Endocrine disruptors exist widely in daily necessities, including plastic packaged food and bottled beverages, cosmetics, hair gel, nail polish, soap and so on. These substances enter the human body through mouth, respiration, skin and other ways, affecting the endocrine system, even at lower concentrations can also play a role in interfering with hormones, resulting in a variety of abnormal phenomena in the human body, such as malignant tumors, decreased reproductive ability and so on.

Previously, when scientists studied the effects of endocrine disruptors on the human body, they studied only one substance at a time. In real life, we can't be affected by only one endocrine disruptor.

How much is the impact of exposure to multiple endocrine disruptors?

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Those with high maternal endocrine disrupting substances

The IQ of a 7-year-old boy is 2 points lower.

A team from Icahn Medical College in Mount Sinai, New York, studied the effects of endocrine disruptors on fetuses for the first time and published the results in the latest issue of Environment International.

The research team obtained the sample data of the subjects through the SELMA research project. (SELMA is a population-based study of maternal and infant asthma and allergies in Sweden.)

Between November 2007 and March 2010, the study recruited more than 2300 pregnant women at antenatal clinics in Wemran County, Sweden. In this study, eligible children were invited to evaluate 943 children, resulting in complete data on 718 7-year-olds.

When pregnant women were 10 weeks pregnant, the researchers collected morning urine and non-fasting blood samples and measured 54 of them. After selection and treatment, 26 suspected endocrine disruptors were used for statistical analysis. Including bisphenol A, bisphenol F, bisphenol S, phthalates, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, polychlorinated biphenyls, pyrethroids and so on.

At the same time, it is assumed that if the mother is exposed to more endocrine disruptors during pregnancy, the child's IQ score is lower, and the child's sex, gestational age, mother's weight, education, IQ and smoking are taken as control variables. Weighted quantiles and regression were used to evaluate the data.

The researchers collected blood and urine from pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy and measured the child's IQ score at the age of 7 and found that the boy's IQ was 2 points lower when exposed to high levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals.

The results show that:

1. Exposure to 26 suspected endocrine disruptors in early pregnancy can lead to low IQ in children.

two。 The mixed effect of endocrine disruptors has the greatest impact on boys.

3. Bisphenol F (BPF) may not be a safer substitute for bisphenol A (BPA).

4. Preventing pregnant women from being exposed to short-acting pollutants can mitigate this effect.

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Bisphenol F has the greatest influence on children's IQ.

Among the 26 endocrine disruptors tested, the researchers found that Bisphenol-F (BPF) had the greatest effect on neurodevelopment in boys, while bisphenol A had relatively little effect on neurodevelopment, and the effect of bisphenol S (BPS) was negligible.

Bisphenol F and bisphenol S are structural analogues of bisphenol A, which have been widely used as substitutes for bisphenol An in recent years. These results suggest that the new bisphenol preparation may still be harmful to children. Previous studies have shown that these three bisphenols have similar endocrine activity and potency, and they may destroy the important transmission pathway mediated by estrogen in brain function.

In addition, chlorpyrifos (TCP), pyrethroid pesticide metabolite m-phenoxybenzoic acid (PBA), ethyl phthalate metabolite monoethylphthalate (MEP) and benzyl phthalate (MBzP) all have different effects on the neurodevelopment of boys.

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Reduce exposure to endocrine disruptors

Endocrine disruptors are almost everywhere, and although we can't be completely isolated from them, mothers-to-be don't have to panic too much. This is because if you know more about the source of endocrine disruptors and make some changes in living habits, you can greatly reduce the exposure to endocrine disruptors for yourself and the fetus.

The main uses of chlorpyrifos and pyrethroid pesticides.

In view of this, eat and come into contact with takeout food, snacks, bottled drinks, canned food and plastic toys as little as possible in order to reduce the use of plastic products and effectively control the exposure level of the human body to bisphenol chemicals and phthalate metabolites.

Eating organic vegetables and fruits, away from the areas where pesticides are sprayed, can effectively reduce the intake of chlorpyrifos and pyrethroid pesticides.

In fact, it is not only children, if long-term exposure to high levels of endocrine disruptors, the homeostasis of adults is also easy to be out of balance, resulting in irreversible damage to the body and leading to a variety of malignant diseases.

Only by reducing the use of related chemicals, reducing their pollution to the environment, and actively looking for alternative methods, is the long-term solution for our human development.