Endocrine disruptors in food: potential impact on human health

peer reviewedSeveral scientific studies revealed that substances with hormonal (or antihormonal) activity are widely distributed in the environment as well as in food, either as natural constituents (as phytoestrogens), or as substances of anthropogenic origin (for example, Several observations concerning both the wild fauna and humans indicate that these products with hormonal activity are endocrine disruptors. Numerous ecotoxicological studies evidenced important disturbances of the fertility of the wild fauna in zones contaminated by pesticides. In humans, epidemiological studies revealed a significant increase of certain cancers (among others, that of the testicles) and a decrease of the male fertility. Substances with estrogenic activity are often considered, but other hormonal effects are more and more frequently discovered (i.e. anti-androgenic). Numerous worries appear concerning the long-term effects on human health linked to a chronic exposure to these substances by food ingestion. It is urgent to review, not only on the actual contamination of our food by endocrine disruptors (in terms of identification and quantification of every individual chemical), but also the potentially toxic activity of food containing a mixture of contaminants present at levels below their individual toxicity threshold