9 Ways to Avoid Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals

You may remember learning in biology class that our bodies are run by a network of hormones and glands that regulate everything we do. Most often, we think about this system—the endocrine system—in the context of puberty, but it actually plays a starring role in all phases of development, metabolism, and behavior.

Here’s the bad news: Synthetic chemicals in products like plastics and fragrances can mimic hormones and interfere with or disrupt the delicate endocrine dance. We’re exposed to these chemicals daily, and we’re especially vulnerable to them during phases of accelerated development—including throughout childhood or a pregnancy. Fetuses are also particularly at risk. Some of the impacts on our metabolism and immune, nervous, and reproductive systems can have long-term and even lifetime adverse health effects, such as learning disabilities, obesity, diabetes, reproductive problems (including infertility), and cancer.

“We have very tight developmental windows of when, say, our brain and reproductive organs are formed,” explains NRDC senior scientist Dr. Katie Pelch. “When a hormone-disrupting chemical gets in the way during these windows, it can change the ways these processes happen, sometimes in ways that are long-lasting or permanent.”

Yes, it sounds scary, but we aren’t without recourse: While NRDC works to get better safeguards in place, there are ways you can try to steer clear of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Here’s how.