Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are substances in the environment (air, soil, or water supply), food sources, personal care products, and manufactured products that interfere with the normal function of your body’s endocrine system. Since EDCs come from many different sources, people are exposed in several ways, including the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. EDCs also can enter the body through the skin.

Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) and Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) Used in 100LL Aviation Fuel, PFASs and Dioxane Are All Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDC) Extensively Used in Aviation Related Activities.

Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) and Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) used in 100LL Aviation Fuel and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Dioxane are all Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDC) used extensively in Aviation related activities.

A research report by the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and communications DETEC, Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA, Aviation Policy and Strategy Environmental Affairs, titled “Aircraft Piston Engine Emissions Summary” (pdf) brings up another dirty little aviation secret that is all but ignored, obscured, and most likely hidden on purpose.

Leaded 100LL aviation fuel contains a similar amount of ethylene dibromide (EDB), usually a 1:1 ratio, e.g. 2.12 grams of Ethyl Bromide are combined with 2.12 grams of Tetraethyl Lead AKA Pb(C2H5)4 (CAS # 78-00-2) per gallon of aviation fuel. Ethyl Bromide AKA Bromoethane AKA  CH3CH2Br (CAS # 74-96-4) is used to remove (scavenge) lead deposits from the combustion parts of the engine. Otherwise spark plugs can be destroyed and deposits on valves can obstruct their proper operation. Ethyl Bromide, or the scavenger, is an environmentally harmful substance, believed to be carcinogenic, is an EDC and contributes to stratospheric ozone depletion (EPA EDB Hazard Summary 106-93-4) (EDB was banned under International Rotterdam Convention) (IRC home).

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs), and heavy metals in amniotic fluid: a case-control study (09 January 2019) | Molecular Autism | (html) (pdf) Existing studies of autism suggest that prenatal metal exposure may be related to autism. Exposure to Pb (Lead) during neurodevelopment has significant effects on neurobehavioral and intellectual performance, also resulting in attention, hyperactivity, and learning disorders. Lead poisoning has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism, as Pb (Lead) blood levels of autistic children have been reported to be significantly higher than those of healthy children. Previous studies have shown that perinatal exposure to Mn, Pb (Lead), and Cd from air pollution increased ASD risk. In this study, the authors observed that As and Pb (Lead) levels in amniotic fluid (AF) tend to be positively associated with ASD risk, suggesting the possible role of prenatal exposure to toxic metals in the ASD development.

The study summarized that environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as PFAS, some metals (including Lead), and their biological activities can be detected in amniotic fluid, indicating that EDCs can cross the placenta and increase the potential fetal exposure to these environment contaminants. EDCs might modify ASD risk by influencing the hormone receptor function.

Early Life Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Childhood Obesity and Neurodevelopment, 2016 Nov 18, (html) (pdf). EDCs may increase the risk of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders by interfering with early life thyroid hormone signaling or metabolism. Thyroid hormones play a critical role in neuronal migration, synaptogenesis, and myelination during gestation and childhood. Even clinically non-significant variations in maternal thyroxine or thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels during pregnancy are associated with reduced cognitive abilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and increased autism risk.

A couple of key points of several noted:

  • Endocrine disrupting chemicals may increase the risk of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders or obesity by disrupting hormonally-mediated processes during critical periods of development.
  • The developing fetus, infant, and child may have enhanced sensitivity to environmental stressors like EDCs and greater exposure to some EDCs because of developmentally appropriate behavior, anatomy, and physiology.

Of course, the following abbreviated list represents just a tiny sampling and NOT an official or thorough survey of the tidal wave of accumulated medical and scientific evidence:

  • Higher lead in topsoil boosts probability of cognitive difficulties in five-year-old boys, (MedicalExpress), April 10, 2019
  • Pregnant Moms’ Air Pollution Exposure May Affect Babies’ Health | The Scientist Magazine® (html), Sep 23, 2019
  • Call to Action on Neurotoxin Exposure in Pregnant Women and Children | Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders | JAMA | JAMA Network | (html)
  • The Emerging Clinical Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review | Autism Spectrum Disorders | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network | (html)
  • U.S. Air Quality Was Improving. Now It’s Getting Worse, and data shows more people are dying (PBS) (APNews) (Bloomberg) (WashingtonPost)
  • PFAS Chemicals: EDCs Contaminating Our Water and Food Supply | Endocrine Society (html)
  • Experts warn PFAS endocrine-disrupting chemicals may drive obesity, osteoporosis (html)
  • A restatement of the natural science evidence based on the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on wildlife | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (html) (pdf)
  • Clinical Epigenetics | Home page (html)
    • Pollution and epigenetics (html)
  • Air pollution-induced placental alterations: an interplay of oxidative stress, epigenetics, and the aging phenotype? | Clinical Epigenetics | (html) (pdf)
  • Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) – EveryCRSReport.com, (html) (pdf) Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) IP0280E, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress, 01-31-1985!
  • Dirty Dozen Endocrine Disruptors | EWG (html)
  • What is Endocrine Disruption? | Endocrine Disruption | US EPA (html)
  • Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals EDCs | Hormone Health Network (html)
    • Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals | Hormone Health Network (html)
  • WHO | Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) (html)
  • The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids Michigan claims ‘water is safe,’ but won’t say where – Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This seems to be typical Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), behavior, e.g. avoiding, obscuring, and even hiding the truth from taxpayers when confronted (html)
  • Endocrine Disruptors (pdf), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • Endocrine Disruptors: from Scientific Evidence to Human Health Protection, March 2019 (pdf) This research paper was requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions and commissioned, overseen and published by the Policy Department for Citizen’s Rights and Constitutional Affairs.
  • Critical Windows of Development Timeline — The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (html)
  • Home — The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (html)
  • PFAS Update 2019: Emerging Contaminants – What’s New, And What’s Next?
    By Stephanie R. Feingold Drew Cleary Jordan, April 24, 2019 (pdf), states that many different Theories of Liability Being Pursued: Public Nuisance and Private Nuisance, Trespass, negligence, Abnormally Dangerous/Ultra Hazardous Activities, Failure to Warn, Claims for both Property Damage and Personal Injury/Medical Monitoring, and possibly Fraud and or State Statutory Consumer Protection Statutes & Other State Codified Analogs of Common Law Claims.

It’s the LITTLE THINGS. Little Things Really DO Matter When Considering Toxic Negative Aviation Impacts on the Developing Brain

Both of these excellent videos should be ‘required’ viewing for ANYONE concerned about pregnant women, babies and school children. This includes parents, policy makers, law makers, teachers, scientists, researchers, etc.

Includes Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) & Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) a globally banned pesticide both in 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas)

Video-1: Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain (html) 7:01m – YouTube. We’ve been studying the impact of toxins on children for the past 30 years and reached the inescapable conclusion: little things matter. We’ve discovered that extremely low levels of toxins can impact brain development. We have also discovered that subtle shifts in the intellectual abilities of individual children have a big impact on the number of children in a population that are challenged or gifted. Steps should be taken to reduce children’s exposure to toxins or suspected toxins.

Video-2: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain (html) 4:17m : Video 2 on Vimeo. Using a nationally representative study of US children, this video illustrates how subtle shifts in ADHD symptoms from childhood lead exposure and prenatal tobacco exposure result in a large increase in the percent of U.S. children who have ADHD.

  • More detailed information about how toxins impact child brain development with supportive documentation for both videos here: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain (html) (pdf) 03-2015 | Annual Review of Public Health.  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114413.  The optimal strategy to prevent the development of brain-based disorders is to identify and restrict or ban the use of potential toxins before they are marketed or discharged into the environment. Unfortunately, industries are allowed to market a product until it is repeatedly shown to be toxic in both human and laboratory studies. Once a toxin is disseminated in the environment, it requires a Herculean effort to disentangle its effects from other prevalent and modifiable risk factors for brain-based disorders.
  • Child and Family Research Institute (BCCHR), BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH), University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.
  • Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3V4, Canada
  • No Brainer (pdf). The impact of chemicals on children’s brain development: a cause for concern and a need for action. NOTE: Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) of concern include both Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) and Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) a globally banned Pesticide that are added in equal amounts to 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas).

Reference

Endocrine.org (html) | Endocrine Society.