Environmental Xenoestrogens: Developmental Effect On Changing Environment, Molecular Mechanisms, and Human Health

Estrogens, including estrone, estradiol, and estriol, are the female sex hormones conscientious for the regulation and play a significant role in the developmental process of the feminine reproductive organs. It is used for hypogonadal, postmenopausal, and hormone replacement therapy, as drugs in oral contraceptives and the cure of hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer, and many other hormone-based complications such as osteoporosis. Environmental xenoestrogens may be classified into two categories- natural (derived from plants or fungi) and synthetic, which include steroidal estrogens, pesticides, and industrial waste. Phytoestrogens are thought to be beneficial for humans, but many environmental pollutants, including pesticides, plastics, and chemicals, which can mimic estrogen compounds, may act like estrogen or could interfere in the mechanism of action of natural estrogens and thus disturb the endocrine processes; such substances are called endocrine disruptors. In the last decade, concentrations of synthetic estrogens have increased rapidly in soil and water worldwide; synthetic xenoestrogens have attracted significant attention. In this chapter, the severe effects of xenoestrogens on human health have been highlighted.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Carcinogenesis, Early adolescence, Endocrine disruptors, Endometrial cancer, Environmental pollutants, Menopause, Mycoestrogens, Osteoporosis, Phytoestrogens, Steroid hormones, Xenoestrogens.