![\"Endocrine](\"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/shared\/cream-4713579_640.jpg\")
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The increasing presence of endocrine disruptors in aquatic environments is becoming a major concern for public health and the environment. These substances, resulting from human activities such as the use of cosmetics, plastics, pesticides, or industrial products, end up in rivers, lakes, groundwater, and even drinking water. Despite the efforts of wastewater treatment plants, some of these pollutants persist and eventually contaminate ecosystems and living organisms, including humans.<\/p>\n
Endocrine disruptors act by mimicking or blocking the action of natural hormones in the body. They thus disrupt the endocrine system, which is essential for regulating many vital functions such as growth, metabolism, reproduction, and brain development. Prolonged exposure to these compounds can lead to fertility problems, cognitive disorders, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, or hormone-related cancers. Among the most widespread substances are synthetic hormones used in contraceptives, plastic additives like bisphenol A or phthalates, as well as industrial and agricultural chemicals.<\/p>\n
Aquatic environments are particularly vulnerable because they directly receive industrial and domestic discharges, as well as indirectly agricultural runoff or rainwater loaded with pollutants. Wastewater treatment plants, designed to remove solid matter and pathogens, fail to effectively filter out these micropollutants. As a result, sometimes high concentrations remain in treated water, exposing populations to long-term health risks. Urban areas, where industrial activity and population density are high, record higher contamination levels than rural areas, where pesticides and livestock waste dominate.<\/p>\n
The effects on aquatic wildlife are equally concerning. Fish, algae, and invertebrates accumulate these substances in their tissues, which can cause reproductive disorders, malformations, or abnormal behaviors. For example, some endocrine disruptors alter sex hormone levels in fish, leading to reduced fertility or feminization of males. These disruptions can spread throughout the food chain, ultimately affecting humans who consume these organisms.<\/p>\n
To limit these impacts, depollution solutions are under study. Among them, membrane filtration, adsorption on activated carbon, or biodegradation by microorganisms show promising results. Activated carbon, for example, can remove up to 99% of certain endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A or phthalates. Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes, although expensive, also offer high efficiency in removing these pollutants from water. However, their large-scale deployment remains limited by technical and economic constraints, particularly in developing countries.<\/p>\n
Microplastics, ubiquitous in aquatic environments, further worsen the situation. They act like pollutant sponges, absorbing endocrine disruptors before being ingested by marine organisms. This dual contamination\u2014plastic and chemical\u2014amplifies the risks to the health of ecosystems and humans. Solutions such as capturing microplastics in wastewater treatment sludge or degrading them with specific bacteria are being explored, but their implementation remains complex.<\/p>\n
The regulation of these substances remains uneven worldwide. While some countries have banned the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles or food containers, others struggle to enforce strict standards due to a lack of resources or political will. Substitutes for bisphenol A, such as bisphenol S, sometimes prove just as harmful, highlighting the need for a global and coordinated approach. The economic and health costs of inaction are immense, as shown by studies linking exposure to these pollutants to rising public health expenditures.<\/p>\n
Research is advancing to better understand the mechanisms of action of these disruptors and develop more sensitive detection methods. Scientists, however, emphasize the urgency of action, as aquatic ecosystems and human health are already affected. Collective awareness, coupled with ambitious policies and technological innovations, seems essential to reduce the presence of these substances and limit their devastating effects.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s44274-026-00764-7<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Navigating endocrine disrupting compounds in aquatic ecosystems through sources, biological implications, and sustainable remediation techniques<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> Discover Environment<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> Nurfitrah Halim; Prathika Ravichandran; Ram Kumar Arivanandan; Wen Jye Mok; Rajamani Lakshminarayanan; Kesaven Bhubalan; Sevakumaran Vigneswari<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Endocrine Disruptors Threaten Aquatic Ecosystems and Human Health The increasing presence of endocrine disruptors in aquatic environments is becoming a major concern for public health and the environment. These substances, resulting from human activities such as the use of cosmetics, plastics, pesticides, or industrial products, end up in rivers, lakes, groundwater, and even drinking water.… Continue reading Endocrine Disruptors Threaten Aquatic Ecosystems and Human Health<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-international","category-society","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biodiversityreview.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}