Endocrine Disruptors: An Uncontrolled Experiment?

Kennedy mentioned endocrine disruptors, chemicals in our food and water that can interfere with the body’s hormone biosynthesis. He spoke about how the poorly regulated use of these synthetic chemicals in the environment could affect fertility, sperm counts, and reproductive development.

In particular, Kennedy mentioned endocrine disruptors, which are chemicals in our food and water that can interfere with the body's hormone biosynthesis and metabolism.

Kennedy spoke about how the poorly regulated use of these synthetic chemicals in the environment could affect fertility, sperm counts, and reproductive development.

Stay Informed with Brownstone Institute Name * First name First Last name Last Email * Email 1 Subscribe Exposure to these chemicals begins in utero and can have a significant impact on the developing foetus.

Often industry studies examine the safety of a single chemical for short durations, but in the real world, we are repeatedly exposed to a cocktail of chemicals, which render many of the studies irrelevant.

Ian Shaw, professor of toxicology at the University of Canterbury, said that hormones work at "Infinitesimally tiny doses" and the doses of oestrogenic chemicals in food and water that children are exposed to are "Well within the range of doses to have a biological effect." Bruce Lanphear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, said that even low levels of chemicals like lead and flame retardants, can have an impact on brain development.

"We should expect that some of these chemicals [turn out] to be toxic, and we should no longer be using our children as guinea pigs to find out when they are toxic." Until recently, Lanphear was co-chair of Health Canada's scientific advisory committee on pesticide management but resigned in June 2023 over the agency's lack of transparency and scientific oversight.

Industry has responded to these concerns by developing plastics that are "BPA-free," but BPA is often substituted for Bisphenol S, another unregulated chemical that can also leach out of plastic into food and drink. 

https://brownstone.org/articles/endocrine-disruptors-an-uncontrolled-experiment/