The field of endocrine disruption has been the focus of increasing attention from scientists and the general public in the past 30 years, amidst concerns that exposure to environmental chemicals with the potential to alter endocrine system function, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), may be contributing to an overall decline in wildlife populations and the reproductive health of humans. These concerns are based on observations of adverse effects of EDCs on marine and land animals, an increased incidence of reproductive and endocrine disease in humans, epidemiological evidence for links between body burden and disease, and endocrine disruption in laboratory animals following exposure to EDCs. Owing to its role in regulation of endocrine function as well as its responsiveness to hormones, the developing brain is an especially vulnerable target for many classes of EDCs. This book will address the evidence for EDC action on the developing brain, organized into 7 chapters. Topics covered include background about EDCs, evidence for exposures, concerns about EDC effects in the developing organism, and particularly on the developing nervous system, how EDCs perturb the brain's neuroendocrine systems, transgenerational epigenetic effects of EDCs, EDC effects on non-reproductive behaviors, and future perspectives. This is the first book completely dedicated to understanding links between EDCs and the developing brain, an area of emerging importance for human health.

Mounting evidence shows that increasing numbers of children are being diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, and it is clear that this increase cannot be explained by genetic background alone. A number of studies, including epidemiological studies, have found an association between in-utero and childhood exposure to certain chemicals, such as endocrine disruptors, psychoactive pharmaceuticals, volatile organic chemicals, persistent organic compounds and heavy metals, and children’s brain development. Yet, the mechanisms by which these chemicals impair brain development and function are not fully understood. In addition, little is known about how these chemicals enter and accumulate in the brain. Experimental approaches are essential to understand how those harmful chemicals enter children’s brain and pose discrete effects on specific brain sites. These approaches include the following: improvement of technologies for the detection and measurement of neuroendocrinological and behavioral changes in animal models: development of analytical methods for the identification and quantification of chemicals and their metabolites in the brain; development of in vitro cell line assays; and imaging technologies to illustrate cellular functions. In this research topic, we collected articles that provide state-of-the-art science and technologies that can help us identify environmental chemicals that influence brain development. We also included articles that lead to a better understanding of the actions and dynamics of these chemicals. The articles in this research topics supplied novel information about harmful endpoints of environmental chemicals. The reviews demonstrated the typical and novel interactions between environmental chemicals and the developing brain. We believe that these studies would lead to further understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders caused by environmental factors.

Our world and bodies are becoming increasingly polluted with chemicals capable of interfering with our hormones and thus, possibly, our present and future neural and mental health. As authors Heather Patisaul and Scott Belcher outline, there is a large lack of data and evidence in this causal relationship, which begs a need for further study to accelerate progress in the endocrinology and neuroendocrinology fields. Endocrine Disruptors, Brain, and Behavior focuses on if and how these chemicals, known as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), affect the development and function of the brain and might be contributing to neural disorders rapidly rising in prevalence. The book provides an overall synthesis of the EDC field, including its historical roots, major hypotheses, key findings, and research gaps. The authors explain why even the concept of endocrine disruption is controversial in some circles, how differing definitions of endocrine disruption and what constitutes an "adverse" outcome on the brain shape public policy, and where the current capacity by different stakeholders (industry, academia, regulatory agencies) to evaluate chemicals for safety in a regulatory context begins and ends. The book concludes with suggestions for future research needs and a summary of emerging technology which might prove capable of more effectively evaluating existing and emerging chemicals for endocrine disrupting properties. As such, it provides the context for interdisciplinary and innovative input from a broad spectrum of fields, including those well-schooled in neuroscience, evolutionary biology, brain, behavior, sex differences, and neuroendocrinology.

In today's world, everyone carries a toxic load of dozens of industrially produced chemicals in their bloodstream. Not only do these adversely affect the health of adults and children, but also, and more worryingly, they damage the development of unborn infants. The amniotic fluid of pregnant women has been found to contain a variety of chemicals, such as pesticides, plasticizers, disinfectant products, flame-retardants, surfactants and UV filters, many of which interfere with fetal physiology, especially thyroid hormone action. Thyroid hormone is vital for brain development, particularly for the fetus during pregnancy and for toddlers. In fact, children born to women who lack this thyroid hormone (or who are unwittingly exposed to thyroid-disrupting chemicals) have lower IQs and more neurodevelopmental problems. Evolution of the human brain has involved multiple changes and processes dependent on thyroid hormone. The urgent question thus arises: Is chemical pollution poisoning brain development and reversing evolution's most outstanding achievement: the human brain? And if so, as this book convincingly illuminates, what can be done about it both collectively and individually? Toxic Cocktail provides a clear view of how many environmental chemicals interfere with brain development. As a result, this book looks at how we define and test IQ, the evidence for IQ loss, and how chemical pollution and thyroid hormone disruption can be actors in this process, as well as increasing neurodevelopmental disease risk.

"The exponential increases in neurodevelopmental disorders implicate environmental factors as well as genetic causes. Flame-retardants, pesticides, plasticizers, and other every-day products contain chemicals shown to affect thyroid hormone signaling, which, if disrupted, can result in significant impairment in IQ. Across entire populations, such effects spell large-scale social and economic consequences. Barbara Demeneix suggests what can and must be done to halt and reverse this disturbing trend"--

Endocrine disruption represents one of the most controversial environmental issues of our time. Mounting evidence stemming from more than 10 years of experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies has transformed the once generally discounted subject of endocrine disruptors into an issue of tremendous concern not only within the scientific community but among society as a whole. Following initial evidence from basic research, endocrine disruption in humans has now emerged as a major medical challenge. In this respect, puberty, a crucial developmental stage, has been definitively identified as a key window of vulnerability with regard to endocrine disruptors. Written by leading authorities in the field, Endocrine Disruptors and Puberty offers an engaging and comprehensive overview of this fascinating and rapidly growing problem. An indispensable resource for all clinicians and scientists interested in this challenging endocrinologic topic, Endocrine Disruptors and Puberty is a timely contribution that will help navigate a path toward understanding the problem and developing solutions.

An award-winning scientist, in this urgent, thought-provoking and meticulously researched book, shows how chemicals in the modern environment are changing--and endangering--human sexuality and fertility on the grandest scale.