Endocrine disruptors: kitchen utensils and hygiene products make children sick

One of the first things Diana and Carlos changed at home was their daily cosmetic products, such as deodorants, shampoos, hand soaps, and shower gels, replacing them with healthier options. Little by little, they replaced their kitchen utensils: they threw away plastic water bottles and lunchboxes, buying stainless steel and glass ones; then it was the turn of the frying pans, opting for non-stick versions, and wooden spoons to replace their silicone ones. They also implemented frequent handwashing.

"We had already heard about endocrine disruptors from the training we had done at work," explains Diana Arguisuelas, a physiotherapist at Salut Armonic in Alella. That's why, when her daughters' school—two girls aged 6 and 9—organized a talk, she didn't hesitate to attend. "They explained to us exactly what a disruptor was, what it caused in the body, especially in children, and all the health problems it's linked to," she recalls. In fact, they gave them so much information that, "to avoid overwhelming the families, the pediatrician and the endocrinologist insisted we start with three key principles: handwashing, not using plastic bottles, and trying to keep the children from putting their hands in their mouths," she summarizes.

Her daughters' school—located in Maresme, but whose name cannot be revealed to avoid compromising the study—is participating in a pioneering international project led by Catalonia called Hypiend The project aims to investigate the impact of endocrine disruptors on the health of the most vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and children. The knowledge generated will be used to develop science-based recommendations for reducing exposure to these chemicals and thus improving public health. "This isn't about creating alarm, but about providing clear and practical information so families can make informed decisions," says Sílvia Orte, one of the lead researchers on the project, which is led by Eurecat.

They deceive the organism

Hormones are the molecules responsible for communication between cells, tissues, and organs, and are essential for the proper functioning of the body. Endocrine disruptors—also known as hormone disruptors—deceive the body by masquerading as these natural hormones when they are actually chemical compounds primarily derived from petroleum. These substances can alter the response of hormone receptors in our cells and influence the functioning of the endocrine system, impacting essential functions such as growth, metabolism, sleep, and reproduction. Furthermore, prolonged exposure to high levels of these chemical compounds can have serious consequences. It is associated with serious health problems: from developmental disorders, fertility problems, obesity, respiratory illnesses and allergies, metabolic and cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer.

The problem is that we can't avoid them entirely: they're everywhere. Scientific studies conducted on large population samples show that they are present in 95% of participants and in most of the products we use daily, from food and toys to personal hygiene products, household cleaning products, and even laundry. These compounds enter the body through skin contact, ingestion, or inhalation. Currently, more than a thousand substances with probable endocrine-disrupting activity have been identified. Some are very persistent, such as certain pesticides that can remain in the body for up to 10 years, while others, like parabens or bisphenols, are excreted in a matter of hours.

Why aren't they regulated and banned if they are known to be harmful to health? "They are being regulated as scientific studies demonstrate their effects," points out Noemí Boqué, a researcher at the Nutrition and Health Unit of Eurecat. "But sometimes there may be industrial interests at play, or the fact that a synergistic or cumulative effect occurs makes it very difficult to establish a limit that can be considered safe for health," laments this expert, who emphasizes that, moreover, when some are banned, new ones appear "that are just as harmful or even more so." Plastic is one of the main sources of endocrine disruptors, she stresses.

A concern that goes back a long way

For years, pediatricians worldwide had been observing an increase in consultations for children with precocious puberty. And the first scientific studies began to point to persistent exposure to these toxins as the cause. "Healthy pubertal development should begin around age 8 in girls and age 9 in boys. The fact that it appears earlier means that the normal physiological rhythm has been disrupted, and it must be studied and treated, because precocious puberty has health impacts," explains Paula Sol Ventura, a pediatric endocrinologist and Coordinator at Pujol (Badalona) and Arnau de Vilanova (Lleida), as well as the principal investigator for the Hypiend project in the puberty division. Some of these problems are linked to children's final height and the psychological and social repercussions. "How must a girl feel when she gets her period at age 8?" Ventura asks.

Until now, the available scientific evidence on endocrine disruptors came from observational studies, which were based on evaluating the level of these toxins in children's urine and seeing if this was associated with early puberty. But "that doesn't prove it's a direct effect, because there may be other factors involved, such as diet, which you can't control," Boqué points out. And that's the motivation behind Hypiend. "We want to have direct evidence about the effects of these compounds on health," she adds.

Objective: to reduce children's exposure

With €7 million in funding from the European Horitzó program, the initiative originated in Catalonia, driven by Eurecat, in collaboration with other hospitals and research centers such as the Trias i Pujol Hospital, which has a pediatric environmental health unit. It will run until 2028 and involves 14 institutions from Spain and eight other European countries. In total, more than 700 children between the ages of 6 and 8 are involved, 350 of whom come from 17 Catalan schools in the Barcelonès Nord, Maresme, Vallès Oriental, and Alt Pirineu regions. In parallel, the team has launched a second branch focused on pregnant women and infants up to 18 months old, which pursues the same objective: to see how endocrine disruptors affect them and to measure the effectiveness of strategies to reduce their exposure.

In the case of the prepubertal study, the researchers first take urine, stool, and capillary blood samples to assess the levels of toxins they find; whether the body has absorbed them and whether they have caused epigenetic changes. Then, they inform and train families, through workshops and talks, as well as teachers, so they can learn to identify the toxins and avoid them as much as possible. After some time, they will repeat the analyses to see if they have managed to lower the levels of endocrine disruptors in the children's bodies.

"We focus on the hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, which is the central axis that frames the project, because it is one of the most affected by endocrine disruptors and is closely related to the development of boys and girls," says endocrinologist Ventura, who adds that they will look for epigenetic markers directly related to the endocrine disruptors.

Provide alternatives

To work with families, the researchers have developed a mobile app. "We launched a series of personalized recommendations, all supported by scientific evidence, which we gamified," explains Orte, head of the Digital Health line at Eurecat. In fact, they collect data through questionnaires about lifestyle, health, and psychosocial habits to analyze the behaviors families need to change to prevent exposure to toxins. "Until I started working on this project, I used canned goods, like tuna," Orte explains, as a personal example. Coincidentally, her 8-year-old son attends one of the schools participating in Hypiend. "One of the suggestions they make to families is to stop using cans, because the chemicals they contain leach into the food, and they propose switching to glass containers," adds this researcher. "We try to teach families about the alternatives available to them and how small habits can reduce exposure to these compounds—not to zero, but to lower the levels," says Boqué. Pediatric endocrinologist Patricia Sol Ventura, the project's principal investigator, adds that improving your environment will have a positive effect on your health. "Fortunately, health isn't only determined by contact with these chemicals; our lifestyle and a healthy diet also play a role," she reminds us. Spending as much time as possible in green spaces and avoiding packaged foods is a good antidote.