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Beyond Our Genes pp 53–77Cite as

Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Their Effect on Health Later in Life

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Abstract

Evidence is increasing that chemical exposure significantly contributes to human ill health. This chapter focuses on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), a group of substances that interfere with our endogenous hormonal system. Exposure to EDCs, in particular during pre- and early postnatal development, has been associated with a number of disorders such as decreased fertility, hormone-related cancers, as well as neurodevelopmental and metabolic disorders. EDCs differ from classical toxicants in several ways, they can for example affect the organism already at very low doses and introduce long-term changes that manifest much later in life. Such effects could be mediated by epigenetic changes. Indeed, a large number of experimental studies have shown that EDCs can induce epigenetic changes, in particular alteration in DNA methylation. This is corroborated by some epidemiological studies where epigenetic changes were linked to EDC exposure. In this chapter, we introduce examples of EDCs, their exposure sources and modes of actions, and summarize the evidence for their effects on the epigenome in relation to their impact on fertility, neurodevelopment, and metabolism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Integrative Toxicology, Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden

    Elin Engdahl

  2. Environmental Toxicology, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Elin Engdahl & Joëlle Rüegg

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  1. Elin Engdahl
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  2. Joëlle Rüegg
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Correspondence to Elin Engdahl .

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  1. Head of the Environmental Epigenetics Group, Institute of Experimental Genetics & German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH – German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bayern, Germany

    Raffaele Teperino

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Engdahl, E., Rüegg, J. (2020). Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Their Effect on Health Later in Life. In: Teperino, R. (eds) Beyond Our Genes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35213-4_4

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