EDC's as Industrial Chemicals and Settler Colonial Structures

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reena Shadaan ◽  
Michelle Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Development ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Oil Extraction ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Oil Refineries ◽  
Racial Capitalism ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting

Oil refineries and settler colonialism are not typically how feminist and environmental frameworks scope the problem of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Instead, it is much more common to find EDCs described as a problem of packaging, plastics, and consumer goods, and to characterize their effects as a problem of bodily damage, and particularly as injuries or alterations to the reproductive and sexual development of individuals. This paper seeks to disrupt these individualized, molecularized, damage-centered and body-centered frames, and to strengthen decolonial feminist frameworks for understanding EDCs. We contend that our understanding of EDCs must expand to the structures of settler colonialism and racial capitalism that accompany oil extraction and refining, as well as to the distribution of emissions to airs, waters and lands. Building on the argument that pollution is colonialism, we hold that EDCs are materially a form of colonial environmental violence, disrupting land/body relations, and at the same time, are made possible by a permission-to-pollute regulatory regime.

Endocrine Disruptors in the Environment

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Langston
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Environmental Chemicals ◽  
Pharmaceutical Drugs ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
World War ◽  
Synthetic Chemicals ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Post War

Since World War II, the production of synthetic chemicals has increased more than 30-fold due to the post-war boom in petrochemical exploration, manufacture, and marketing. The modern chemical industry, now a global enterprise of $2 trillion annually, is central to the world economy, as it generates millions of jobs and consumes vast quantities of energy and raw materials. Today, more than 70,000 different industrial chemicals are synthesized and sold each year (Chandler 2005; McCoy et al. 2006). New technologies and methods for the detection of these synthetic chemicals have drawn increasing attention to the pervasive and persistent presence of hormone-disrupting chemicals in our lives. Hormones—the chemicals that deliver messages throughout the body in order to coordinate physical processes—are deeply sensitive to external interference, and the consequences of such interference are becoming ever more apparent. In July 2005, the Centers for Disease Control (2005) released its Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, revealing that industrial chemicals now permeate bodies and ecosystems. Many of these chemicals can interfere with the body’s hormonal signaling system (called the endocrine system), and many persistently resist the metabolic processes that bind and break down natural hormones. More than 358 industrial chemicals and pesticides have been detected in the cord blood of minority American infants (Environmental Working Group 2009). Accumulating data suggests that reproductive problems are also increasing across a broad range of animals, from Great Lakes fish to people. Many researchers suspect that the culprits are environmental exposures to synthetic chemicals that disrupt hormonal signals, particularly in the developing fetus. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are not rare; they include the most common synthetic chemicals in production, such as many pesticides, plastics, and pharmaceutical drugs. Since World War II, synthetic endocrine-disrupting chemicals have permeated bodies and ecosystems throughout the globe, potentially with profound health and ecological effects (Krimsky 2000). Hormones are chemical signals that regulate communication among cells and organs, thus orchestrating a complex process of fetal development that relies on precise dosage and timing.

scholarly journals Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis ◽  
Jean-Pierre Bourguignon ◽  
Linda C. Giudice ◽  
Russ Hauser ◽  
Gail S. Prins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Broad Class ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Breast Development ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Female Reproduction ◽  
Endocrine Society ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Scientific Statement

Abstract There is growing interest in the possible health threat posed by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are substances in our environment, food, and consumer products that interfere with hormone biosynthesis, metabolism, or action resulting in a deviation from normal homeostatic control or reproduction. In this first Scientific Statement of The Endocrine Society, we present the evidence that endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology. Results from animal models, human clinical observations, and epidemiological studies converge to implicate EDCs as a significant concern to public health. The mechanisms of EDCs involve divergent pathways including (but not limited to) estrogenic, antiandrogenic, thyroid, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, retinoid, and actions through other nuclear receptors; steroidogenic enzymes; neurotransmitter receptors and systems; and many other pathways that are highly conserved in wildlife and humans, and which can be modeled in laboratory in vitro and in vivo models. Furthermore, EDCs represent a broad class of molecules such as organochlorinated pesticides and industrial chemicals, plastics and plasticizers, fuels, and many other chemicals that are present in the environment or are in widespread use. We make a number of recommendations to increase understanding of effects of EDCs, including enhancing increased basic and clinical research, invoking the precautionary principle, and advocating involvement of individual and scientific society stakeholders in communicating and implementing changes in public policy and awareness.

scholarly journals Zearalenone endocrine system catch

2005 ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojislava Bursic ◽  
Verica Juric
Keyword(s):  
Polychlorinated Biphenyls ◽  
Germ Cell ◽  
Organochlorine Pesticides ◽  
Sexual Development ◽  
Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Testicular Atrophy ◽  
Principal Mechanism ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting

This paper deals with the contamination of our environment with thousands of both natural and man-made chemicals which affect the endocrine system of humans and animals. These so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are thought to mimic or block the action of hormones and therefore disrupt sexual development in utero. EDCs are organochlorine pesticides, dioxin compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, alkylpolyethoxylates, plastic additives and phytoestrogens (occurring naturally in foods: isoflavones coumenestans and zearalenone). The structure of zearalenone is similar to the structure of estrogens and it enables binding to the estrogenic receptors. DNA laddering on gel electrophoresis was present 12 h after dosing thus indicating a conclusion that there was apoptosis. Apoptosis is the principal mechanism contributing to germ cell depletion and testicular atrophy following zearalenone exposure.

scholarly journals Divergent Evolution of Progesterone and Mineralocorticoid Receptors in Terrestrial Vertebrates and Fish Influences Endocrine Disruption

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Baker
Keyword(s):  
Binding Sites ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Divergent Evolution ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Elephant Shark ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrate ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Development And Differentiation ◽  
Potent Agonist

There is much concern about disruption of endocrine physiology regulated by steroid hormones in humans, other terrestrial vertebrates and fish by industrial chemicals, such as bisphenol A, and pesticides, such as DDT. These endocrine-disrupting chemicals influence steroid-mediated physiology in humans and other vertebrates by competing with steroids for receptor binding sites, disrupting diverse responses involved in reproduction, development and differentiation. Here I discuss that due to evolution of the progesterone receptor (PR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) after ray-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor, each receptor evolved to respond to different steroids in ray-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates. In elephant shark, a cartilaginous fish, ancestral to ray-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates, both progesterone and 17,20-beta-dihydroxy-progesterone activate the PR. During the evolution of ray-finned fish and terrestrial vertebrates, the PR in terrestrial vertebrates continued responding to progesterone and evolved to weakly respond to 17,20-beta-dihydroxy-progesterone. In contrast, the physiological progestin for the PR in zebrafish and other ray-finned fish is 17,20-beta-dihydroxy-progesterone, and ray-finned fish PR responds weakly to progesterone. The MR in fish and terrestrial vertebrates also diverged to have different responses to progesterone. Progesterone is a potent agonist for elephant shark MR, zebrafish MR and other fish MRs, in contrast to progesterone’s opposite activity as an antagonist for aldosterone, the physiological mineralocorticoid for human MR. These different physiological ligands for fish and terrestrial vertebrate PR and MR need to be considered in applying data for their disruption by chemicals in fish and terrestrial vertebrates to each other.

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Brain–Behavior Effects on Thyroid and Sexual Differentiation

2020 ◽  
pp. 426-448
Author(s):  
R. Thomas Zoeller ◽  
Frederick S. vom Saal
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Safety Testing ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Estrogenic Chemicals ◽  
And Gender

The human population is exposed to literally hundreds of industrial chemicals. Studies show that, on average, there are well over 100 industrial chemicals in cord blood samples taken from babies born in the United States. This observation may be disregarded if it were not for solid—and growing—evidence that many of these chemicals interfere with hormone systems that play important roles in human brain development. For example, thyroid hormone is known to be essential for normal brain development and the human brain is much more sensitive to thyroid hormone insufficiency than believed 50 years ago. Chemicals such as perchlorate, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated flame retardants are associated with cognitive deficits in humans, and the experimental literature reveals a complex interaction with the thyroid system that can account for these effects. Likewise, estrogenic chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) can affect the development of many organ systems, including sexually dimorphic regions of the brain. There is now convincing evidence that even slight perturbations in hormonal systems caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals can impact brain development, reducing cognitive function and gender-specific behaviors throughout the remainder of life. The consequences of such chronic exposures at low doses typical of human exposures had, until relatively recently, not been appreciated due to safety testing strategies that are designed to identify overt toxicities, not endocrine disruption and its consequences.

Twenty-Five Years after Sa-I-Gu: Multiracial Politics in Times of Crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Chang ◽  
Daniel Martinez HoSang ◽  
Soya Jung ◽  
Chandan Reddy ◽  
Alex Tom
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The State ◽  
Racial Capitalism

We chose to frame this conversation in terms of crisis: not only the state of permanent crisis created by racial capitalism and settler colonialism but also specific flashpoints like Sa-I-Gu [the Korean term for the April 1992 uprising in Los Angeles after the acquittal of the police officers involved in the Rodney King beating]. We want to look at the conditions surrounding these flashpoints and the responses to them that then shaped race consciousness and politics subsequently. Today we have no shortage of crisis, no shortage of flashpoints. And yet there is hope. Perhaps more than at any other time in my lifetime, there are opportunities to shift mass culture, at the very least to popularize and normalize a slightly more critical consciousness. So now I want to turn to my friends here to talk about crisis and multiracial politics. We’ll start with Sa-I-Gu and work forward to this moment and also to future possibilities.

Exposure to Indoor Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Childhood Asthma and Obesity

PEDIATRICS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 146 (Supplement 4) ◽  
pp. S333.1-S333
Author(s):  
Stuart L. Abramson
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Asthma ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting

Effect of Polyphosphate on Removal of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals of Nonylphenol and Bisphenol-A by Activated Carbons

2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keun J. Choi ◽  
Sang G. Kim ◽  
Chang W. Kim ◽  
Seung H. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Activated Carbon ◽  
Bisphenol A ◽  
Surface Charge ◽  
Activated Carbons ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals ◽  
Dipole Interaction ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Calcium Polyphosphate ◽  
Endocrine Disrupting ◽  
Positively Charged

Abstract This study examined the effect of polyphosphate on removal of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as nonylphenol and bisphenol-A by activated carbons. It was found that polyphosphate aided in the removal of nonylphenol and bisphenol- A. Polyphosphate reacted with nonylphenol, likely through dipole-dipole interaction, which then improved the nonylphenol removal. Calcium interfered with this reaction by causing competition. It was found that polyphosphate could accumulate on carbon while treating a river. The accumulated polyphosphate then aided nonylphenol removal. The extent of accumulation was dependent on the type of carbon. The accumulation occurred more extensively with the wood-based used carbon than with the coal-based used carbon due to the surface charge of the carbon. The negatively charged wood-based carbon attracted the positively charged calcium-polyphosphate complex more strongly than the uncharged coal-based carbon. The polyphosphate-coated activated carbon was also effective in nonylphenol removal. The effect was different depending on the type of carbon. Polyphosphate readily attached onto the wood-based carbon due to its high affinity for polyphosphate. The attached polyphosphate then improved the nonylphenol removal. However, the coating failed to attach polyphosphate onto the coal-based carbon. The nonylphenol removal performance of the coal-based carbon remained unchanged after the polyphosphate coating.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document