[Xenoestrogens: endocrine disrupting compounds]

Abstract

In recent years much attention has been paid to the issues of chemicals that disrupt the normal function of endocrine system, namely xenoestrogens. These chemicals can mimic the activity of endogenous estrogens, antagonize their interaction with estrogen receptors or disrupt the synthesis, metabolism and functions of endogenous female hormones. Due to the fact that they act thanks to many different mechanisms, it is very difficult to estimate their estrogenic activity by means of a simple tests. The important issue remains the fact that xenoestrogens may have a positive or negative influence on the function of the endocrine system. It seems to be very important that there are many sources of xenoestrogens, that is not only vegetables and fruit (phytoestrogens), but also metals (Co, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb), dental appliances (alkilphenols), food containers or blood containers (PVC--polyvinyl chloride, DEHP--di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), cosmetics (parabens) and pesticides (DDT--dichlor-diphenyl-trichlorethylane, endosulfane).