A Lecture to Explain Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals to the Second Class Students of a Medical Faculty

AbstractEndocrine-disrupting chemicals are the chemicals exposed at the outside, which alter the function of the endocrine system or cause adverse health effects in healthy people and in their children. These chemicals are taken mostly from plastics, detergents, pesticides, insecticides and dyes. The bisphenol A and phthalates used in the plastic, the heavy metals taken by food, respiratory, skin and transplacental ways to the human body, dioxins and several chemicals as determined in the United States, the EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) are emphasized for their endocrine-disrupting effects. The use of Bisphenol A in polibikarbonat material of infants and children is prohibited in Turkey and the European Union. Endocrine disrupting chemicals cause mostly endometriosis, precocious puberty, nervous system disruption, immune system impairment and cancers. EPA screening program focuses on measuring estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine) for the prevention of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and gives importance to environmental monitoring