EEA advise that household chemicals can increase cancers and fertility problems

Chemicals found in everyday household products may be contributing to rising rates of cancer, diabetes, brain diseases and fertility problems. Foetal development is particularly sensitive.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has recently published a report saying that products that disrupt the hormone system (known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs) should be treated with caution until their true effects are better known.

The EEA advise that chemicals which can potentially disrupt the endocrine system can be found in food, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, household products and cosmetics. In recent decades, there has been a significant growth in many human diseases and disorders including breast and prostate cancer, male infertility and diabetes. Many scientists think that this growth is connected to the rising levels of exposure to mixtures of some chemicals in widespread use.

"Scientific research gathered over the last few decades shows us that endocrine disruption is a real problem, with serious effects on wildlife, and possibly people", EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said. "It would be prudent to take a precautionary approach to many of these chemicals until their effects are more fully understood."

CREAL researchers have been conducting several projects examining the effect of EDCs on child health, particularly the mother-child cohort INMA conducted in several parts of Spain, a similar cohort in Crete (RHEA study), the coordination actions funded by the EU on European child cohorts (projects Enrieco and Chicos); and also the adult MCC-Spain study on several hormone related cancers such as breast and prostate.

Further information: http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/the-impacts-of-endocrine-disrupters and http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/newsreleases/increase-in-cancers-and-fertility