Impacto de los disruptores endocrinos en la salud y el medio ambiente. (Spanish)

Abstract

Various chemical substances showing adverse effects on living organisms or their offspring are called endocrine disrupters, as a consequence of alterations of endocrine function. They comprise a diverse and heterogeneous group of chemicals, which are able of altering the normal hormone equilibrium. Among them, long lasting, bio-accumulative, organohalogen compounds and some pesticides (fungicides, herbicides or insecticides) may be found. Some industrial chemicals as well as some other synthetic products and heavy metals are also included. Many of those substances have been spilled out to the environment, without taking into account their disturbing action over the endocrine system of animals, including humans. The quantitative evaluation of their high impact on animal and human health is currently of great interest for scientists. Moreover, there is scarce information about production, use and applications of such chemicals. On the other hand, no suitable tests for identifying and cataloguing them are yet available. Strategy for knowing the effects provoked by endocrine disrupters over human health and environment must be mainly focused to obtaining information of substances, suspected to harbor such properties and developing/validating assay methods to find new toxicological data of substances with insufficient information. This strategy must be extended to adapting law regulations that concern assays, evaluation and uses of these substances. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]