US scientists have demonstrated a causal link between toxic substances found in everyday consumer products and the increased growth of uterine fibroids, the most common tumors in women.
- According to the IRSN 2019 barometer, half of the French people questioned consider that the risks linked to endocrine disruptors are high.
- The WHO estimates that 23% of global mortality is linked to the environment, which represents 12.6 million deaths per year, including 1.4 million in Europe.
- Toxic chemicals, including endocrine disruptors, contribute to this mortality.
Toxic pollutants are everywhere, including in food packaging, hair products and make-up… and their harmful consequences on health have already been pointed out many times by scientists.
A study on the involvement of environmental phthalates on the growth of uterine fibroids published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates today that women heavily exposed to certain phthalates such as DEHP, a substance that increases the flexibility of plastics, have a high risk of symptomatic fibroids.
Phthalates activate the growth of uterine fibroids
Uterine leiomyomas (or fibroids) are the most common benign tumour, affecting up to 80% of women of childbearing age. “A quarter of these women become symptomatic and experience excessive and uncontrolled uterine bleeding, anemia, miscarriages, infertility and large abdominal tumors requiring technically difficult surgeries“said Dr. Serdar Bulun, study author, physician at Northwestern Medicine and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
This is the first time that a study has explained the mechanisms underlying this link. According to the researchers, exposure to DEHP can “activate a hormonal pathway that allows an environmentally sensitive receptor (AHR) to bind to DNA and cause increased fibroid growth”.
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR for “aryl hydrocarbon receptor“) has indeed a role in the response to environmental toxins. “Interestingly, AHR was cloned in the early 1990s as a receptor for dioxin, the main toxin in Agent Orange“said Dr. Serdar Bulun.”The use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War caused significant reproductive abnormalities in exposed populations; and it was then thought that dioxin and assisted reproduction were responsible.“
The dangerousness of endocrine disruptors is recognized
Europe and France have set up a strategy on endocrine disruptors, including phthalates. But in the United States, manufacturers use phthalates in many industrial and consumer products, and they have also been detected in medical supplies and food. Indeed, although they are known for their toxicity since they can cause specific damage to human tissues, they are not currently banned there, say the researchers.
