EDC Science Weekly, Apr. 10-16, 2026

Post author:HEEDS
Post published:April 16, 2026
Post category:EDC Science Weekly

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

Highlights:

Determining EDC exposure: direct analytical methods are essential for accurate analysis of human biospecimens.
Preliminary Evidence of Microplastics in the Human Thyroid and Their Potential Association with Autoimmune Thyroiditis.
A spatio-temporal systematic evidence map of exposure to bisphenols and their alternatives: Social and environmental justice.

Science summaries and highlights

Events

Apr. 23 webinar: Assessing exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals through ultra-processed foods [Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health]

Apr. 27 webinar: Cleaning House: The fight to rid our homes of toxic chemicals [CHE]

May 5 hybrid symposium: NAMs and TAMs (New and Traditional Approaches and Methodologies): The Future of Laboratory-Based Environmental Health and Toxicology Research for Harm Reduction [Duke Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program]

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

May 7 webinar: New science on neonicotinoids: Reproductive and neurodevelopmental health effects [CHE]

May 7 webinar: The Plastic Detox: A Free Educational Webinar on the New Documentary Film [Beyond Plastics]

May 13 science café: The Secret Chemistry of Hair Extensions [Silent Spring Institute]

May 29 conference: HEEDS EDC-North Carolina Annual Scientific Meeting (in person in Raleigh NC) [HEEDS]

Summer 2026: Skills for Health and Research Professionals (SHARP) Training program [Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health]

June 10: TSCA Reform: 10 years later (hybrid) [Environmental Law Institute]

June 15 due date for RFI: Facilitating Evidence Synthesis to Improve Decision-Making on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals [Pew Charitable Trusts]

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.

July 8-10: U.S. Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) annual meeting (Raleigh NC); Trainee day July 8.

July 15 due date: Call for papers: Bridging Human and Animal Studies to Better Understand How Environmental Factors Impact Human Reproductive and Developmental Health: Celebrating Professor Shanna H. Swan for Her Outstanding Achievements in the Field [Reproductive Toxicology]

Regulations/Policy

National registers of authorized Plant Protection Products in Europe-the data treasury needed for the sustainable use of pesticides.

Translating data into policy informing decisions: current and future perspectives from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

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

Methods/Tools/Screening

Determining EDC exposure: direct analytical methods are essential for accurate analysis of human biospecimens.

Impact of Chemical Quality on High-Throughput in Vitro Assays: A Tox21 Study.

A probabilistic and context-dependent cell culture modelling framework for regulatory toxicology.

Development of an in vitro method for simultaneous evaluation of androgenic activity of chemicals and their metabolites using S9: Application in biocides.

An Integrated Approach Combining Regulatory Tests in tg(cyp19a1b:GFP) Zebrafish Embryos to Assess Toxicity, Developmental Effects, and Estrogenic Activity of Chemicals: A Case Study with Bisphenol A Substitutes.

Studying endocrine disrupting chemicals from molecular targets to mixture model approach: lessons from the thyroid model.

A Method to Calibrate Chemical-Agnostic Quantitative Adverse Outcome Pathways on Multiple Chemical Data.

A tool to assess the internal validity of toxicokinetic studies.

Commentaries

Ultra-processed foods are a key driver of the global plastics pollution crisis.

Editorial: Understanding the link between environmental pollutants, brain & behavior.

The challenges of PFAS – analysis, occurrence, fate, and exposure.

Trends in Organofluorine Chemistry Reveal Gaps in Knowledge on Environmental Persistence.

Pesticides may wreak havoc on the gut microbiome. [News item in Science]

Microplastics: US launches $144m campaign to study impact and removal from human body.

Implications of microplastics as emerging endocrine disruptors

Reviews/Meta-Analyses

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Mixture Toxicity in Human Health: Integrating One Health, Exposomics, and Modern Risk Assessment Strategies.

Kinetic management of endocrine disruption: How chemical dynamics shape hormonal systems.

Mechanisms of reproductive toxicity and endocrine disruption of bisphenols and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): Implications for women’s reproductive health.

Bioavailability of and US infant exposure to arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and per- and polyfluoroalkyls from human milk and infant formula: Results from a series of systematic reviews.

Non-infectious environmental risk factors of multiple sclerosis: Mechanisms and intervention windows for prevention.

Current perspectives on the in vitro cytotoxic effects of tebuconazole, imidacloprid, and microplastics: A comprehensive review.

Bisphenols

Bisphenol S and female reproductive toxicity: a scoping review of human studies.

Association Between Bisphenol A Exposure and Declining Sperm Quality and Its Potential Mechanism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on the Evidence of Epidemiological and Rodent Studies.

Transgenerational reproductive risks of BPA: epigenetic mechanisms and biomarker applications. A critical review.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

The impacts of organochlorine pesticides on adverse human health outcomes: A second-order synthesis of mean effects and heterogeneity.

Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Exposure and Cognitive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review of Epidemiologic Evidence and Risk of Bias Assessment.

PFAS

Integration of mechanistic and repeat dose toxicity data in the derivation of an oral reference dose for HFPO-DA.

Hormesis in plant systems: A widespread and highly generalizable phenomenon induced by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Bioaccumulation and effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in bivalves: A review.

Flame Retardants

Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in lithium-ion batteries: Classification, physicochemical properties, environmental behavior, human exposure and toxicity.

Metals/Metalloids

Understanding the contribution of toxicant exposures to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Tracing Toxicity: A Scientometric Perspective on Three Decades of Metallic Pollutants Research.

Endocrine-disrupting properties of heavy metal exposure contribute to the intergenerational effects on learning and memory.

Toxic Metals in a Green Transition: Global Health Risks, Sources, and Policy Responses-Insights from the Munich Toxic Metals Symposium 2025.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Nanoplastics and Neurodegeneration: A Roadmap From Mechanism to Causation.

Human Exposures to Micro- and Nanoplastics in Water and Data Needed to Understand Potential Health Effects-A-State of the Science Review.

Environmental Pollutant-Induced Cardiopathogenesis Through Immune Dysfunction: The Emerging Role of Micro- and Nanoplastics.

The effect s of microplastics exposure on the growth and development of children.

Micro- and nanoplastics influences in Parkinson’s disease: lessons from human stem cell models.

Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Cardiovascular Disease: An Emerging Cardiovascular Risk Factor.

Micro- and Nanoplastics as Disruptors of Digestive and Hepatopancreatic Homeostasis: Insights into the Plastic-Gut-Liver Axis.

Advances in Male Reproductive Toxicology of Nanoplastics: Potential Risks to Human Reproduction-A Systematic Review.

Micro/nanoplastics pollution: emerging challenges for aquatic animals and food crops.

Microplastics Induced Dysfunctions in Physiology and Behavior of Fish: A Comprehensive Review.

Miscellaneous

Environmental health literacy competencies and teaching methods for students and health professionals in Primary Health Care: A scoping review.

Human Health Studies

Bisphenols/Phenols

Bisphenols, nonylphenols, and nonylphenol metabolites in paired dust and urine across China: insights into systemic oxidative stress.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Prenatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Childhood Adiposity: Findings from the MIREC Cohort.

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene exposure, cognition, and cortical thickness at middle age in US Latinas (the CHAMACOS Maternal Cognition Study): a prospective cohort study.

Association of Persistent Organic Pollutants Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dioxins with Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome and Its Prognosis: A Nationally Representative Study.

Associations between AhR Gene Polymorphisms and Expression in Agent Orange/Dioxin Exposed Individuals.

PFAS

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and incidence of asthma and wheeze in childhood: A register-based cohort study in Ronneby, Sweden.

Prediction of endometrial tissue PFAS concentrations using serum levels, demographic, and reproductive factors: Findings from the Investigating Mixtures of Pollutants and Endometriosis in Tissue (IMPLANT) study.

Role of one-carbon metabolism variants in the associations between perfluoroalkyl substances exposure and birth size in the Taiwan Birth Panel Study.

Associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), DNA methylation and gene expression from background exposed Norwegian women (2003-2006).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and incident metabolic syndrome in midlife women: the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

PFNA dominates the association between PFAS mixture exposure and hypertension risk: The mediating role of estradiol in the U.S. adults.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance profiles and associations with thyroid hormones in a coal mining population from Shanxi Province, China.

Targeted and non-targeted analyses of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances in newborn dried blood spots and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Flame Retardants

The associations between prenatal exposure to organophosphate esters and children’s anogenital distance growth trajectory: A birth cohort study.

Exposure to organophosphate esters and trajectories of gestational weight gain: A large prospective cohort study.

Pesticides

Low-dose exposure to organophosphate pesticides and chronic kidney disease: insights from urinary dialkyl phosphate biomarkers.

Association between serum organophosphorus pesticides and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease: findings from Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.

Agricultural pesticide exposures in Ecuador and their spatial association with low birth weight: a combined cluster detection and Bayesian modelling approach.

Association of exposure to organophosphate pesticides with reproductive lifespan.

Assessment of oxidative stress and its association with biological markers and occupational factors in Tunisian farmworkers chronically exposed to pesticide mixtures.

Metals/Metalloids

Maternal essential and toxic metal mixtures in late pregnancy and neonatal birth weight.

Association between urinary cadmium exposure and metabolic syndrome and the mediating role of thyroid dysfunction: NHANES 2007 to 2012.

The effect of occupational lead toxicity on testosterone secretion and the L-arginine nitric oxide pathway.

Modulatory Effects of Essential Trace Elements on Glycemic Biomarkers in Toxic Metal-Induced Associated Diabetes.

Associations of serum metal/metalloids with ovarian reserve and inflammation mediation: a repeated-measures longitudinal study.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Preliminary Evidence of Microplastics in the Human Thyroid and Their Potential Association with Autoimmune Thyroiditis.

Microplastic accumulation in paired human breast tumor and para-tumor tissues and exploratory clinical associations.

Air Pollution

Associations between monthly fine particulate matter and ozone exposure, and postneonatal infant mortality in the United States, 2005-2017.

Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure Is Associated with the Infant Gut Microbiome and Fecal Metabolome in the First Two Years of Life.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

Acetaminophen Exposure During Pregnancy and the Risk of Autism in Offspring

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

A detoxifying multi-strain probiotic formula attenuates toxicity induced by heavy metals and phthalates.

Bisphenols

Investigation of the potential of bisphenol A substitutes to induce allergic contact sensitization using OECD defined approaches.

Developmental bisphenol A exposure modifies gene expression without altering stress or cognitive outcomes in offspring of a live-bearing fish.

Bisphenol TMC disrupts the structure and esterase-like function of human serum albumin: Implications for the safety of BPA alternatives.

Effects of Maternal Tetramethyl Bisphenol F Exposure on Neurodevelopment and Behavior in Mouse Offspring.

High-Content Imaging and Machine Learning Classify Phenotypical Change in Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells Caused by BPS.

BPA Disrupts Hepatic Lipid and Carbohydrate Metabolism in Female Zebrafish: Protective Effects of Probiotics Revealed by FTIRI and Lipidomics.

Phthalates

Mechanisms underlying DEHP/MEHP-induced toxicity in multiple sclerosis: An integrated analysis combining network toxicology, bioinformatics, and in vivo experimental validation.

Exploring the mechanisms of diethyl phthalate-induced diabetic nephropathy through integrated network toxicology, machine learning, and experimental validation.

From phthalate exposure to venous thrombotic risk: Decoding the DEHP-ROS mediated OTUD1- p53 stabilization loop in endothelium.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Genome-wide identification and single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the mcm gene family in zebrafish reveals its role in TCDD-induced reproductive toxicity.

PFAS

Deleterious effects of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) exposure on glucose and lipid metabolisms in the marine water flea Diaphanosoma celebensis.

Multi-omics analysis of perfluorooctanoic acid and glioblastoma: insights from Mendelian randomization, network toxicology, and molecular docking.

Flame Retardants

Sex-specific disruption of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) density in the social brain neural network by Firemaster 550.

Maternal Exposure to Bisphenol A Bis(diphenyl Phosphate) Induces Offspring Colitis through Disrupting the Gut Microbiome-Metabolite Axis.

Organotins

PINK1-PARKIN-Dependent Mitophagy Links Diphenyltin Exposure to Steroidogenic Collapse in Rat Leydig Cells During puberty.

Pesticides

Intrauterine exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide during pregnancy induces testicular impairment via activating ferroptosis in offspring.

Rapid behavioral screening in the planarian Dugesia japonica is a biologically relevant system to study neurotoxicity of organophosphorus pesticides mixtures.

Intergenerational Effects of Neonicotinoid Thiacloprid in Murine Prostate Tissue Are Associated with Epigenetic Alterations in Homeobox Hox Genes.

Metals/Metalloids

Mixed exposure to lead, methylmercury, and cadmium aggravates spatial memory deficits via dopamine signaling pathways in the mouse hippocampus.

Chronic inorganic arsenic exposure impairs locomotor performance and socio-affective behavior in zebrafish.

Chronic arsenic exposure promotes cell migration via KEAP1-mediated F-actin cytoskeletal rearrangement.

Arsenite: Toxicity and genotoxicity in a mouse Leydig cell line.

Subacute dimethylated monothioarsenate (DMMTA) exposure induces hepatotoxicity and disrupts the gut microbiota-bile acid-liver axis: A multi-omics study in mice.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Toxicological effects of polypropylene nanoparticles similar in size to nanoplastics in plastic-bottled injections on mice and zebrafish.

Unraveling hepatotoxicity: mechanistic insights into food chain-transferred nanoplastics disrupting PPAR signaling and liver metabolism.

Polyethylene microplastics differently induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and hepatic metabolism in male and female adult zebrafish.

Systemic crosstalk between liver and brain is associated with microplastic-induced neurobehavioral toxicity in zebrafish.

Low-Dose Polystyrene Nanoplastics Alleviate High-Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Injury via AMPK/mTOR-Mediated Lipophagy Activation.

Gauging the effects of a chronic exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics in the liver and intestine of Carassius auratus.

Hepatotoxic Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate Microplastics Revealed by Network Toxicology, Molecular Docking, and In Vivo Validation.

Air Pollution

The exposure to the air pollutant fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) slightly enhances high-fat diet-induced anxiety-like behavior and impairs brain redox balance in female rats.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Comparative exposure and risk assessment of heavy metals, nutrients, and organochlorine pesticides in cow and plant-based milks.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Pesticides in Black Bears (Ursus americanus) and Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) from Montana’s Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem: A Baseline Assessment of Emerging and Legacy Contaminants.

Bisphenols

A spatio-temporal systematic evidence map of exposure to bisphenols and their alternatives: Social and environmental justice.

Phthalates

Emerging plasticizer pollution in Thailand: Occurrence, distribution, and ecological risks of phthalate and non-phthalate esters.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Paraben Exposure in the General Taiwanese Population: Reference Values, Personal Care Products, and Cumulative Risk Assessment.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Survey of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and non-ortho-polychlorinated biphenyls in U.S. meat from 2023-2024: toxic equivalency levels, temporal trends, and implications.

PFAS

Volatile per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other semi-volatile organic chemicals in indoor air of fire stations: the influence of gear storage conditions.

Roadkill: An Opportunistic Strategy to Track PFAS in Venomous Snakes in a South African Urban Environment.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and heavy metals in the egg of peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) populations in West England, United Kingdom.

Nationwide Occurrence, Profiles, and Health Risks of Legacy and Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Tap Water across China.

Bald Eagles as bio-sentinels: Monitoring and fingerprinting PFAS contamination.

Flame Retardants

Health Risks of Organophosphate Flame Retardants (OPFRs) in Facial Cosmetic Sponges via Dermal Exposure.

Pesticides

Work Safety Climate, Heat-Related Illness, and Potential Pesticide Exposure Among Latino Farmworker Adolescents and Young Adults in Arizona.

Comparative evaluation of urine, whole blood, and serum as biological matrices for human biomonitoring of neonicotinoid insecticides and metabolites.

Metals/Metalloids

Hair metal concentrations in a mother-newborn population from a polluted megacity: an indicator of prenatal metal exposure.

Glacier Melt as a Source of Mercury: Implications for Ecosystem Recovery and Environmental Trends.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Patterns of plastic food container use as potential sources of MNP exposure: a latent class analysis approach.

The Invisible Threat from Your Microwave: Real-Time Warning of VOCs Emissions and Rapid Detection of Nanoplastics from Polypropylene Food Containers.

Microplastics and sea turtle reproduction: A systematic review on nest contamination and developmental risks.

A plastic diet for pets: Exploratory evidence of microplastics in commercial dry pet food in Spain.

Co-occurrence of microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in subantarctic seabirds.

Miscellaneous

Patients weigh in: The value of healthcare environmental stewardship to patient experience.

——-

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.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to donate here! Thank you!

EHN EHN

HEEDS EDC-North Carolina meeting
by Sarah Howard on March 24, 2026 at 12:51 pm
EDC-North Carolina's fifth annual meeting will be held on Friday, May 29, 2026. It will be held at NIEHS in the Rodbell Auditorium, and attendance is free and open to everyone. There will be awards for best posters; posters from other meetings are accepted. More information here. Sponsored by Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies (HEEDS).
Webinar: New science on neonicotinoids: reproductive & neurodevelopmental health effects
by Sarah Howard on March 15, 2026 at 6:47 pm
This May 7 webinar is sponsored by the Collaborative for Health and Environment, and features Dr. Jenn Sass of NRDC and Dr. Jodi Flaws of the University of Illinois.
Jerry's on TikTok
by Sarah Howard on January 17, 2026 at 3:41 pm
Dr. Jerry Heindel, HEEDS founder, is now on TikTok! The videos are also available as shorts on the HEEDS YouTube channel.

EHN EHN

Interview: Christopher Borgert on an infamous glyphosate paper
by EHN Curators on April 21, 2026 at 12:30 pm
This pharmacologist gathered more than 60 researchers to push back on the retraction of a Monsanto-linked research paper.
Declining PFAS levels in seabird eggs reflect impact of regulatory action
by Environmental Health Sciences Staff on April 16, 2026 at 8:20 pm
In a recent study published by the Journal of Applied Toxicology, researchers examined the levels of toxic PFAS chemicals in the eggs of northern gannets — a species of seabird — over a 55-year period in Canada.
RFK Jr. links fluoride to lower IQ. New data tells a different story
by EHN Curators on April 16, 2026 at 12:28 am
A new study found people who drink fluoridated water long-term are just as smart as those who don't, contrary to RFK Jr.'s comments.

EHN EHN

Use of toxic PFAS in consumer goods must be urgently restricted, MPs say
by EHN Curators on April 23, 2026 at 12:10 pm
Commons committee heard from residents of Yorkshire town with the highest levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in the UK.
EPA adds more pesticide industry reps to the Science Advisory Board
by EHN Curators on April 22, 2026 at 12:35 pm
While most appointees are academic scientists, U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin also named employees of a company that makes forever chemicals.
Advocates criticize proposed NC PFAS strategy for lack of enforcement power
by EHN Curators on April 22, 2026 at 10:48 am
Critics say North Carolina's PFAS plan lacks strict limits and polluter accountability, leaving communities with ongoing contamination risks.