EDC Science Weekly, Feb. 13-19, 2026

A summary of articles on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) added to PubMed this week.

Contents: Events, Regulations/Policy, Methods/Tools/Screening, Commentaries, Reviews/Meta-Analyses, Human Health Studies, Laboratory Studies, Exposure/Environment Studies

Events

Feb. 27 webinar: Endocrine Disruptors and Toxic Additives in Headphones Across the European Market [ToxFree LIFE for All]

Feb. 26 webinar: The Plastics Lifecycle: Implications for climate change [CHE-Alaska]

Feb. 27 application due date for the Endocrine Society’s Kaiser-Goldberg Research Fellowship program.

Mar. 5 webinar: Chemical Recycling of Plastics: Health concerns & technological limits [CHE]

Mar. 12 webinar: How to get plastic out of student meals [Beyond Plastics]

May 6: ECHO Symposium: Translating Science to Action (hybrid) [NIH]

June 28 – July 3: New and emerging threats, approaches, and mitigation strategies for environmental endocrine disruptors [Gordon Research Conference] and accompanying Gordon Research Seminar June 27 – 28, Harnessing interdisciplinary evidence for endocrine disruption.

Oct. 12-16, conference: MICRO 2026: Plastic pollution from macro to nano [in Cadiz, Spain]

Regulations/Policy

Mad Fashion: Current Regulations Governing Chemicals in Clothing.

Can persistence be considered an intrinsic property of chemicals? The need to set up relevant conditions for testing under chemical regulatory frameworks.

More EDC policy, FPF’s regulations open for comment, and Science’s Trump-Tracker.

Methods/Tools/Screening

New approach methodologies: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

NAMing the challenges and opportunities of new approach methodologies for studying cardiovascular metabolism.

ChronicDPipredictor: an interpretable deep learning framework for chemical chronic and subchronic toxicity assessment.

Multimodal Cross-Attentive Graph-Based Framework for Predicting In Vivo Endocrine Disruptors.

Considerations for the analysis of urinary environmental chemical concentrations during pregnancy.

Commentaries

The “plastic spine” phenotype and the spine exposome: emerging links between micro- and nanoplastics and spinal disorders.

Effects of microplastics in CPAP users: looking for needles in the haystack?

Editorial: Reproductive and developmental effects of micro- and nano-plastics and plasticizers. [intro to a special issue of Reproductive Toxicology]

The hidden world of nanoplastics colliding with neurodegenerative diseases.

Environmental Epigenetics 2026 Update.

Reviews/Meta-Analyses

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Mapping and visualization of global research progress on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fetal development: a bibliometric analysis (2014-2024).

Hormonal Perturbations Induced by Multicategory Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals Increase the Risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Protective effects of curcumin against chemical-induced toxicity in the male reproductive system: a systematic review.

Phthalates

Mechanisms of Phthalate-Induced Accelerated Ovarian Aging in Experimental Models.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Systematic review of human developmental health effects following exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl mixtures in early life.

PFAS

PFAS and One Health: integrating human, animal, and environmental perspectives.

Pesticides

Glyphosate in the tropical Andes pesticide hotspot: A review.

Insights into Imidacloprid: A Scientometric Review of Knowledge and Gaps Over Three Decades.

The double-edged sword of ion channel-targeting pesticides: a paradigm shift from health risks to precision intervention.

Genotoxic and epigenetic signatures of early-life pesticide exposure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

The hidden threat: Microplastics and cancer biology.

Microplastic exposure and human health: an integrative toxicological perspective.

Molecular insights into physiological impact of micro- and nano-plastics on the digestive system and gut-brain axis.

Microplastics on the frontline: causes, strategies to combat pollution and protect health with advanced bioremediation-a review.

Miscellaneous

Benzalkonium disinfectants as emerging endocrine disruptors: Inhibition of 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 in human and rat models via steric and hydrophobic mechanisms: SPR and docking and enzymatic analysis.

Human Health Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Joint effects of exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and multiple metals on the risk of depression in adults.

Bisphenols

Placental DNA Methylation at Thyroid Hormone-related Genes Mediates the Association between Prenatal Exposure to Bisphenol Analogues and Increased Offspring Obesity Risk.

Phthalates

Phthalate mixture exposure is associated with oxidative imbalance in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study using WQS, qgcomp, and BKMR.

Phthalate exposure and hyperuricemia: the mediating role of obesity.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Associations of gestational maternal urinary concentrations of individual and mixtures of parabens with cognition in 7.5-month-old infants.

Integration of the Integrate, Design, Assess, and Share Framework in Developing the Environmental Health Literacy Toolkit Paraben-Free & Me: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Second-generation Agent Orange: Phenomenology of the health experiences of Vietnam veteran progeny.

PFAS

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and risk of autism spectrum disorder in the California Central Valley, 2004-2010.

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and adult cardiometabolic health: a Canadian Health Measures Survey mixture analysis.

PFOS Drives Pulmonary Injury via Glycolytic and Oxidative Metabolic Disruption: Multilevel Evidence Integrating Population, Computational, and Experimental Approaches.

A multi-omics approach reveals PFHxS as an environmental driver of gastric cancer via KEAP1 downregulation.

Pesticides

Early-life herbicides exposure with gut microbiota and neurobehavioral development of hospitalized infants in China.

Environmental co-exposure to organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides and mental health status in rural communities near an industrial pig farming facility.

Metals/Metalloids

Toenail metal concentrations and kidney health among young people at risk of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology.

Schoolchildren’s exposure to potentially toxic metals/metalloids and cognitive impairments in communities of the Brazilian Amazon new agricultural frontiers.

Ultra-Trace Blood Concentrations of Blood Serum Arsenic and Breast, Prostate and Colorectal Cancer Risks in the EPIC-Heidelberg Cohort.

Co-exposure to lead and cadmium is associated with increased severity of social deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Association between exposure to microplastics and lipid disorders: A case-control study.

Air Pollution

Prenatal exposure to wildfire-related PM_2.5 and autism spectrum disorder in children born in California between 2001-2019.

Synergistic Effects of Maternal PM_2.5 and Ozone Co-exposure on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Metabolomic Mechanistic Insight.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

Exposure to personal care products and thyroid function in adults: Unveiling the association and potential mechanism.

Miscellaneous

Beyond Nephrotoxicity: Maternal-Fetal Transfer of Melamine and Potential Disruption of Placental Steroid Hormones.

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Combined developmental toxicity of organophosphorus flame retardant TCEP and lead on zebrafish.

Bisphenols

Introducing BPA-equivalents: assessing mixture toxicity and substitution of BPA in environmental exposure scenarios.

Berberine nanoemulsion against nephrotoxicity induced by bisphenol a in rats during pre-puberty stage.

Sex-dependent physiological consequences of perinatal bisphenol A exposure in seasonal Djungarian hamsters.

A Computational Framework to Evaluate Interactions of BPA and Its Analogs with Human Liver X Receptor-Beta for Health Risk Assessment.

Integrated Multiomics Elucidates Molecular Mechanisms of Bisphenol A in Exacerbating Crohn’s Disease.

Cytomolecular and In Vitro Toxicity Studies on Bisphenol A Effect on Ovine Granulosa Cells.

Bisphenol P triggers hepatic injury via gut microbiota dysbiosis-Induced intestinal barrier disruption.

Phthalates

Di-(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate causes testicular ferroptosis though deficiency of androgen receptor and disruption of mitochondrial quality control.

Differential Disruption of Gonadal Development by DEHP and Paracetamol in Male and Female Wistar Rats.

Diethyl Phthalate (DEP) as a potential osteosarcoma risk factor: a multi-omics study integrating network Toxicology, single-cell RNA sequencing, and molecular docking.

Elucidating key targets and mechanisms of diethyl phthalate-induced colorectal cancer through network toxicology and molecular docking.

Transcriptomics and metabolomics reveal the alleviating effect of lycopene on di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate-induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Histone H3K27 acetylation of slc25a4 mediates triclocarban-induced transgenerational developmental toxicity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) at subthreshold exposure.

PFAS

HFPO-TA induces cardiac developmental damage in zebrafish by disrupting mitochondrial dynamics through FABP3.

Exploring the potential mechanisms of PFAS exposure on colorectal cancer via combined bioinformatics analyses and experiments.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in trace levels via drinking water diminishes mouse embryo mitochondria function across three generations.

Intergenerational and Biochemical Responses of the Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) to Sublethal Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) Exposures.

Pesticides

Paternal Exposure to the Neonicotinoid Pesticide Clothianidin Alters Sperm MicroRNA Profiles in Mice and Intergenerationally Reduces Locomotor Activity in Male Offspring.

Chlorpyrifos causes histopathological changes and modulates vitellogenin levels in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Metals/Metalloids

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure and Gene Expression in Fetal Liver, Heart, Lung, and Placenta.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Stage-specific effects of nanoplastic exposure on neurodevelopment and offspring behavior.

The mediating role of ferroptosis and mitochondrial dynamics disorder in the aggravation of cardiac injury by polystyrene microplastics.

Nanoplastics exacerbate lead exposure-induced developmental neurotoxicity by disrupting gut integrity in Drosophila.

Investigating the Release and Toxicity of Microplastics/Nanoplastics From Single-Use Plastic Bags to Zebrafish.

Combined effects of polystyrene micro-/nano-plastics and imidacloprid on Gut-Brain axis and neurotoxicity in juvenile Carassius auratus.

Polystyrene nanoplastics disrupt ovarian development via cytoskeletal remodeling and epigenetic reprogramming particularly in granulosa cells.

Co-exposure of polyethylene terephthalate micro- and nanoplastics with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances triggers immune dysregulation, apoptotic activation, and neurotoxicity.

Miscellaneous

Mitochondrial dysfunction and AMPK-associated metabolic reprogramming in zebrafish exposed to fluorinated liquid crystal monomers.

Exploring the mechanism of nonylphenol-induced myocardial fibrosis based on TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway.

Exploratory identification of COL1A1 as a potential gene linking endocrine-disrupting chemicals and lung adenocarcinoma: a bioinformatics and machine learning analysis.

N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine-quinone (6PPD-Q) induces osteoporosis by a mechanism involving CX43-mediated mitochondrial autophagy dysfunction in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Occurrence, sources, and risk assessment of organophosphate flame retardants and phthalate esters in playground soils across an urban-rural gradient in central India.

Bisphenols

USEtox modeling of children’s exposures to Bisphenol A (BPA) and alternatives in toys.

PFAS

Quantifying PFAS-Omics Burden Scores for Nontargeted Analysis Using Multidimensional Item Response Theory: An Exploratory Analysis of Novel and Legacy PFAS in Cord Blood.

Understudied PFAS precursors dominate household dust: insights from a pilot study in Rochester, NY.

Diet and Everyday Product Use and Serum Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Levels in the Korean Population: Findings from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey.

Comparison of per- and polyfluoroalkyl levels in human matrices, surface and drinking waters in Spain and other countries.

Leachability and Chemical Profiles of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Electronic Waste Components: Targeted and Non-Targeted Analysis.

Open Dumps as a Critical Source of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Agricultural Soils of Pakistan: Evidence of Trifluoroacetic Acid Dominance.

Flame Retardants

Neglected but Significant Unintentional Release of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Multiple Thermal Industries.

Pesticides

Household insecticide use and pyrethroid levels in the United States.

Metals/Metalloids

Frequency of consumption of different fish, crustacean and mollusc species contributing to methylmercury exposure and consumer awareness of national advice on their consumption.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Does the use of continuous positive airway pressure devices pose a risk of microplastic exposure to the upper airway? A pilot study.

Exploring a Health Effect Sensitivity Distribution Method for Deriving Microplastic Toxicity Thresholds: Application to Microplastic Risk Assessment of School-Aged Children in Pudong, Shanghai.

From farm to fork: Microplastic contamination in the meat and dairy supply chain.

Meso- and microplastics accumulate and transfer hazardous contaminants from wastewater treatment plants to the environment.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

Suspect screening of plastic additives in baby skincare products.

Miscellaneous

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs) in Textiles and Laundry Wastewater: Occurrence and Environmental Risk Assessment.

Environmental Sustainability Practices and Policies Within the United States Breast Pump Industry: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

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This list is not meant to be exhaustive, and generally does not include studies on detection, remediation, or treatment of EDCs. Industry-funded articles are included without notation. Note that journal publication dates may be different from dates added to PubMed. To see the searchable archives, please email me and ask to join the EDC Science Weekly group EDC_research@googlegroups.com. There are searchable archives. Compiled by Sarah Howard of Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies (HEEDS), a program of Environmental Health Sciences.

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