Environmental health investigations branch
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Endocrine Disruptors
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that, at certain doses (high or low), may act on the endocrine or hormone system. They are often similar in structure to natural hormones, so they may mimic or block the actions of the body's hormones. These disruptions may contribute to adverse outcomes like cancer, birth defects, obesity, thyroid diseases, fertility, and other developmental disorders.
Endocrine disruptors are found widely in contaminated water, air, food, and household products, like plastics. A wide variety of chemicals may have endocrine disrupting effects; some of these chemicals persist or remain in the body for years, whereas others may be non-persistent and cleared relatively quickly.
Persistent Endocrine Disruptors
- NEW! Perfluorooctanoate and changes in anthropometric parameters with age in young girls in the Greater Cincinnati and San Francisco Bay Area. (2019)
- Longitudinal study of age of menarche in association with childhood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants. (2019)
- Urinary biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in pre- and peri-pubertal girls in Northern California: Predictors of exposure and temporal variability. (2018)
- Independent maternal and fetal genetic effects on midgestational circulating levels of environmental pollutants. (2017)
- Polychlorinated biphenyl and organochlorine pesticide concentrations in maternal mid-pregnancy serum samples: Association with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. (2016)
- Brominated flame retardants and other persistent organohalogenated compounds in relation to timing of puberty in a longitudinal study of girls. (2015)
- Body burdens of brominated flame retardants and other persistent organo-halogenated compounds and their descriptors in US girls. (2010)
- Exposure to organochlorine compounds and effects on ovarian function. (2005)
- High body burdens of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in California women. (2003)
- Worldwide trends in DDT levels in human breast milk. (1999)
Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)
- NEW! Perfluorooctanoate and changes in anthropometric parameters with age in young girls in the Greater Cincinnati and San Francisco Bay Area. (2019)
- Biomonitoring in California firefighters: metals and perfluorinated chemicals. (2015)
- Serum biomarkers of polyfluoroalkyl compound exposure in young girls in greater Cincinnati and the San Francisco Bay Area, USA. (2014)
Metals
- Newly Published! Lead exposure during childhood and subsequent anthropometry through adolescence in girls. (2019)
- Neighborhood deprivation, race/ethnicity, and urinary metal concentrations among young girls in California. (2016)
- Prenatal and neonatal peripheral blood mercury levels and autism spectrum disorders. (2014)
Non-Persistent Endocrine Disruptors
Perchlorate
- Thyroid hormones and moderate exposure to perchlorate during pregnancy in women in Southern California. (2016)
- Thyroid antagonists (perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate) and childhood growth in a longitudinal Study of U.S. girls. (2016)
Phenols
Phthalates
Phthalates are environmental chemicals that may play a role in the development of obesity. We collected data as part of The Breast Cancer and Environment Research Program at three US sites on growth and pubertal onset in girls. Phthalates, specifically low-molecular weight phthalates, have small but detectable associations with girls' body size.
- Longitudinal associations of phthalate exposures during childhood and body size measurements in young girls. (2016)
- Phthalate exposure and pubertal development in a longitudinal study of US girls. (2014)
- Investigation of relationships between urinary biomarkers of phytoestrogens, phthalates, and phenols and pubertal stages in girls. (2010)