Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

[HashiFedUp]

Recently I saw an article on EDCs - endocrine disrupting chemicals. It was a brief news item. Basically and in summary there are about 85,000 ‘man-made’ chemicals in our environment, that it is argued might disrupt our endocrine systems. Things like Teflon, which is in so many things from cooking pans to clothes to carpets and sofas. Also chemicals in bathroom and kitchen products, as well as pesticides on foods. Does anyone know of any books that have information detailing ways of ‘clean living’ to minimise EDC exposure?!

[jimh111]

I don't know of any book to recommend. I have studied EDCs in relation to thyroid disorders for many years. I have recently set up a website about this and a few days ago Lyn Mynott posted details healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... . It describes how to avoid and eliminate an EDC that affects thryoid hormone action. I set up the website because I find the topic is too deep to describe in a forum.

The difficult bit with EDCs is to sort out what matters and what doesn't. If we were to worry about 85,000 chemicals the only answer would be to live on Mars (or a planet that hasn't been visited by spaceships). There's a danger that 'popular' books on EDCs will be a bit hysterical, on the other hand the manufacturers seek to confuse and protect their vested interests. There are a number of EDCs that affect thyroid hormone activity but in most cases, they probably don't matter much either because humans have little exposure to them or they don't stay around in the body for long. I believe the main culprit is flame retardants called 'polybrominated diphenyl ethers' PBDEs.

It's important to use authoritative sources for learning about EDCs. In a way hypothyroidism is the new IBS. For many years IBS has been seen as a means of making a great deal of money from patients with long term conditions. Hypothyroidism is now becoming part of that market. The Endocrine Society publishes a good introduction endocrine.org/topics/edc and a guide endocrine.org/topics/edc/in... . I give details of some reputable sources on EDC information on this page ibshypo.com/index.php/endoc... .

The nature of testing potential EDCs is that chemicals that affect hormone levels are rejected. Unfortunately, this means that the harmful EDCs that do get approval are not detected by thyroid function tests. These EDCs interfere with thyroid hormone action causing a form of resistance to thyroid hormone that I call 'Acquired Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (ARTH)' to distinguish it from genetic RTH caused by mutations of thyroid hormone receptors.

I do not know the prevalence of ARTH, it could be less than 1% of the population but it could be much higher. I suspect many patients who had a TSH < 10 have been misdiagnosed with primary hypothyroidism and are receiving inadequate treatment. More research is needed to confirm whether this is true or not.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to jimh111]

Thanks for your site, Jim. I trying a 6 month trial of simethicone to see if it makes any difference. Although I apparently have central hypo, no one knows what the cause is, so I thought it was worth a punt.

[wellness1]

Jim has done an impressive amount of work and I look forward to reading about EDCs on his website. Another member, ToxicSofa, was a civil servant who became a campaigner against the use of flame retardants in soft furnishings. You can search his replies for more info or see these links.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42343237

toxicsofa.com/

If you are looking for a book, you might consider The Toxin Solution by Dr. Joseph Pizzorno. You also might want to have a look at The Environmental Working Group's website. They post a lot of tips and resources.

ewg.org/

[Hidden]

I have had problems drugs, combination of drugs and specific foods for many years, which have caused me great harm. Researching this problem over 20 years ago, I discovered that chemicals both natural and manmade interfere with the endocrine system.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals are now a global concern.

A few links to accompany Jim111 excellent reply

Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals

drhedberg.com/thyroid-disru...

EDCs: regulation still lagging behind evidence

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

Published:April 03, 2019DOI:

doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(...

thelancet.com/journals/land...

Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)

env-health.org/

The Endocrine Disruption Exchange

endocrinedisruption.org/

[jimh111]

I've now read the Endocrine Society's guide endocrine.org/topics/edc/in... and it is a very good document. Given it's length I think we can call it a book, a free book. It does get a bit heavy as you go along but if you want an introduction this is excellent.

I've never heard of any endocrinologist telling a patient their problem may be due to endocrine disruption. I'm sure it's a major cause of hypothyroidism, especially the forms that present with normal blood tests and need high doses of thyroid hormone.