Endocrine disruptors, such as bisphenols and parabens, can enter our bodies through diet and the hygiene and personal care products we use on a daily basis, and have long-term health consequences, especially among children. In fact, a new study by the University of Granada (UGR) has found this type of environmental pollutants in the bodies of children between the ages of six and 12.
UGR researchers have found two families of endocrine disruptors (bisphenols and parabens), which may be related to the increase in childhood obesity, in biological samples from 240 children in the province of Granada. These substances have been selected taking into account that a large number of daily use products contain them. Among many other applications, they appear in cosmetic and personal care products and in food.
Bisphenol A, the most detected compound in children’s organisms
The results of the study reveal that methyl, ethyl and propylparaben have been detected in practically one hundred percent of the samples analysed. Others such as isopropyl and butylparaben are detected in a smaller percentage of them and in lower concentrations. Regarding bisphenols, A – whose use in plastic containers for food and beverages has just been banned in Spain – is the compound detected mainly in the body of the children analyzed, since it appears in more than a third of the samples analyzed.
There are more than 1,000 synthetic chemical substances that have the ability to alter the endocrine system and can influence the development of obesity
As in the last 10 years an important alarm has been generated due to its potential danger to health, the plastic industry has begun to replace it with its analogs, and that is why now homologues are beginning to be detected, such as F and AF, although it has been proven that the toxicity of these is similar to that of bisphenol A.
The results of recent studies show that this type of synthetic chemical substances, which have wide industrial use in multiple applications, cause alterations in the endocrine system and influence adipogenesis and the development of obesity. It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 synthetic chemical substances that have the ability to alter the endocrine system. Furthermore, exposure to these chemicals during the first years of life is of particular concern because they are key stages of development.
The Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences (SEDCA) has awarded the research team led by Alberto Zafra Gómez, professor of the Department of Analytical Chemistry; and Ana María Rivas Velasco, professor of the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology; for this research entitled “Presence of Environmental Contaminants with Endocrine and Obesogenic Disruptive Activity in Biological Fluids of Schoolchildren”.
Source: University of Granada (UGR)
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