Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Hidden risks in modern comforts and their impacts on human health, wildlife, and ecological integrity

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a group of exogenous substances that interfere with hormonal signaling pathways, posing significant risks to human, wildlife, and ecosystem stability. EDCs commonly originate in modern consumer products and industrial processes, such as personal care products, plastics, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. These chemicals represent hidden risks associated with modern lifestyles and technological advancement. Several studies have linked EDCs to a host of health possibilities like immune dysregulation, developmental anomalies, reproductive disorders, increased susceptibility to certain cancers, metabolic dysfunction, and alteration in sex ratio. Within the wildlife community, EDCs have been reported to alter behavior, disrupting reproductive success and parenting roles, thereby contributing to population declines. These disruptions threaten biodiversity and ecological balance, with attendant effects felt across trophic levels. The widespread distribution of EDCs and their persistent, bioaccumulative nature often complicates their risk assessment and regulatory measures. To safeguard human well-being and maintain ecological balance in an increasingly industrialized world, it is imperative to address these hidden risks that have evolved as part of modern lifestyles. This study, therefore, canvasses the need for enhanced regulatory policies, adoption of safer chemical alternatives, and improved modern detection methods, bearing the importance of a synergistic approach across disciplines like public health, toxicology, and environmental science to fully understand the sources, half-life, bioaccumulative nature, and routes of exposure to mitigate the long-term impacts of EDCs.