The article presents the current knowledge on the health risks concerning the exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) present in the environment. The pollution of the natural environment with chemical compounds of industrial origin or from the development of new technologies is inherently linked with the use of substances harmful to the human health, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, components of plastic products, pharmaceutical drugs, agents with antimicrobial properties and flame retardants. These compounds are classified as EDCs, a group of substances able to modulate the activity of the endocrine system and contributing to the development of reproductive anomalies in both human and animal organisms. A major source of EDCs exposure for people is food and drinking water, which become contaminated when chemical substances spread with precipitation, landfill leachate, and industrial wastewater. The environment has long been treated as a disposal site for substances classified as waste or the byproducts of production processes by man and his economy. One of the dangers people have become aware of in the last decade are endocrine disrupting compounds. As the name would suggest, this type of environmental pollution affects the organism’s endocrine system and what is even more detrimental, disrupts the endocrine balance. They can, imperceptibly and outside of the victim’s consciousness, affect the development of people and other living organisms from the moment of conception, causing irreversible damage. Thus, there exists a need to monitor, analyze and limit the existence of dangerous chemical compounds such as EDCs in water, soil, air and food.

26.4.2021