EDC Science Weekly, July 17-23, 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

Highlights:

Exposure to legacy and replacement PFAS including PFBS in a New York City-based pregnancy cohort.
Known and novel PFASs in serum of Tucson (AZ) firefighters.
The hidden cost of green food packaging: Biodegradable plastics release more micro/nanoplastics and enhance PFAS co-exposure.

Science summaries and highlights

Events

Sept. 22-23: 2026 Plastics and Human Health Symposium (in NYC with streaming) [NYU Langone Health’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards (CIEH) and the Food Packaging Forum]

Oct. 6 webinar: Glyphosate Science: Cancer, neurotoxicity & endocrine disruption [CHE]

Regulations/Policy

A conceptual framework linking health related costs of PFAS pollution to the polluter pays principle.

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

Methods/Tools/Screening

Semi-automated, evidence-based workflow for selection of reference chemicals for the validation of NAMs: a case study with the adipogenesis assay.

External validity for in vitro toxicity studies: an important but challenging concept.

TaRGET II Data Portal: a multi-omics resource for environmental toxicant studies in mice.

Alternative methods, new approach methodologies (NAMs) and artificial intelligence (AI): Approaching the future of science.

Advancing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) through the publication of negative results.

New approach methodologies for next-generation risk assessment of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products.

Learning the assay, not the hazard: how computational toxicity models inherit the artifacts of their high-throughput training data .

Everything All at Once: On Choosing an Estimand for Multi-component Environmental Exposures.

A framework for risk assessment of plastic additives – Part 1: fundamental elements.

Commentaries

Exponential toxicology.

The unintended consequences of the transition to short-chain PFAS chemicals.

Gaps between Laboratory Experiments and Real-World Exposure: Toxicological Assessment of Microplastics Is Based on Inadequate Evidence.

Reviews/Meta-Analyses

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Evaluation of the reproductive toxicity of endocrine disruptors during early embryo development.

Alliance between the thyroid hormone receptor and obesogens: Current apprehensions and emerging perspectives on the endocrine origins of obesity.

Impact of prenatal environmental exposure on offspring neurodevelopment and susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases: mechanisms and perspectives.

Bisphenols

Bisphenol A and cancer: a critical review of the epidemiologic literature with an emphasis on exposure assessment.

Phthalates

Phthalate exposure in Korea: Environmental contamination, human biomonitoring, health effects, and regulatory responses.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

The 5T Paradox of Triclosan: From Toiletries to Toxic Trash, a Growing Threat to Humanity.

PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and risk of liver cancer: A comprehensive review of epidemiological and mechanistic evidence.

Insights into the Neurotoxicology of Traditional and Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Mechanisms and Research Frontiers.

PPARγ as an Integrator of Developmental Lung Reprogramming by Early-Life Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure.

PFAS in textiles: a critical review on contamination pathways, analytical methods, toxicity assessment, and feasible control strategies.

Pesticides

Pesticide exposure and all health outcomes: An umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies.

Metals/Metalloids

Arsenic Exposure During Pregnancy: Impacts to Maternal and Offspring Cardiovascular Health.

A Systematic Assessment of Metal and Metalloid Migration from Food Contact Materials: Evidence from Plastics, Metal Cookware, Stainless Steel, Ceramics, Glass, and Paper-Board.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Micro- and nanoplastics as environmental modifiers of neuroimmune dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease.

Nanoplastics at the Placenta-Fetal Interface: Emerging Chemical Toxicology Concerns.

Evidence on microplastic exposure and respiratory health outcomes: a systematic review.

Microplastics, the gut microbiome and ageing: mechanisms and intervention strategies.

Clinical Significance of Exposure to Microplastics and the Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Humans: A Systematic Review.

Air Pollution

Oxidative Stress Induced by Air Pollutants and Its Role in Testicular Dysfunction.

Miscellaneous

Toxicity Assessment of Silicon-Based Compounds With Their Permitted Daily Exposure in Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials and Medical Devices.

Human Health Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Drinking Water Contaminant Exposures and Risk of Uterine Cancer and related commentary, Drinking Water Disinfection Byproducts and Uterine Cancer-A Modifiable Environmental Exposure Hiding in Plain Sight.

Identification and Characterization of Key Hazardous Substances in Precocious Puberty Children: An Internal Exposure Assessment in China’s Typical Coastal Cities.

Bisphenols/Phthalates

Exposure to bisphenols and phthalates and arterial stiffness in women of reproductive age: a New York City cohort analysis.

Phthalate exposure and lipid disruption in Taiwanese children: Insights from serum lipidomic approach.

The Association between Phthalate Metabolite Concentrations and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes- A Population-based Cohort Study.

Immune Response as a Modifier Linking Phthalate Exposure to Lung Function Decline: Results from A Longitudinal Study.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Toxicity Assessment of Silicon-Based Compounds With Their Permitted Daily Exposure in Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials and Medical Devices.

PFAS

Associations of Serum Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Concentrations with Dyslipidemia and Its Subtypes in an Adult Population from Shandong, East China.

Metals/Metalloids

Association between heavy metals, essential trace elements in follicular fluid and diminished ovarian reserve: a hospital-based case-control study.

Associations of drinking water and urinary uranium with incident diabetes among U.S. adults: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and the Strong Heart Family Study.

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

High-throughput toxicological profiling and ToxPi-based prioritization of chemical migrants from recycled paper used in food contact materials.

Combined Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors, BPA and BP-3, during Pregnancy and Lactation Alters Postnatal Body Mass, Growth, White Adipose Tissue Morphology, and Adipogenic Gene Expression in a Sex-Specific Manner.

Bisphenols

Integrated metabolomic and histopathological analysis of renal alterations in mice following chronic bisphenol A (BPA) exposure.

Bisphenol A drives the comorbidity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and osteoarthritis by targeting RHOB: Integrated multi-omics, single-cell analysis, and experimental validation.

Bisphenol S disrupts neuronal morphogenesis in human neural cells by overactivating NMDA receptor-Ca²⁺ signaling.

Treadmill exercise partially attenuates bisphenol A-associated behavioral alterations with coordinated multi-omics changes in mice.

Phthalates

Screening of core targets for Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate-related gastric cancer based on machine learning, molecular docking, and SHAP analysis.

Evaluation of the in vitro quality of X-ray irradiated red cell concentrates processed and stored using di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate plasticized blood bag sets.

Gene-environment interaction in hypospadias: DEHP exposure aggravates DNAH8-related disruption of testicular steroidogenesis.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Chronic Exposure to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran Induces Obesogenic Effects on Mice Fed Normal or Western Diets.

PFAS

Comprehensive analysis of the association between perfluorooctanoic acid exposure and osteosarcoma progression.

Cell type-specific toxicity of heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA): mechanistic insights into oral exposure pathways.

PFOA induces apoptosis in primary cortical neurons via GLS2 inhibition-mediated ROS accumulation.

Targeted inhibition of JAK2 phosphorylation by GenX disrupts the JAK2-STAT3 pathway and induces cardiovascular toxicity in zebrafish: Insights from network toxicology and molecular dynamics.

Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) elicits compartment-specific divergent responses in prostate homeostasis: Wnt/β-catenin oncogenic activation in epithelial cells versus mitochondria-mediated ferroptosis susceptibility in stromal cells.

PFOA promotes PMAIP1-MCL1 apoptotic vulnerability within a BHLHE41-associated macrophage regulatory architecture in atherosclerosis.

Transcriptomic Insights into Developmental Toxicity of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Caenorhabditis elegans: The Potential Key Role of Xenobiotic Detoxification Pathway.

Transcriptomic Perturbations in Placental Gene Expression Following Developmental Exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) or Hexafluoropropylene Oxide-Dimer Acid (HFPO-DA or GenX) in CD‑1 Mice Are Consistent with Placental Insufficiency.

Microbial tryptophan-IPA axis mediates 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2Cl-PFESA)-induced gut-brain dysfunction and neurobehavioral impairments.

Flame Retardants

Multi-omics and network toxicology prioritize ADAMTS13 as a candidate gene computationally linked to TDCPP targets in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Organotins

Short-Term Tributyltin Exposure Initiates Lipid-Centered Molecular Programs Linked to Early Neurotoxicity in Zebrafish.

Pesticides

Metolachlor exposure induces immune impairment and activates TLR4/NF-κB signaling in zebrafish embryos.

Subacute Exposure to Aldrin, Endosulfan and Lindane Differentially Alters Metabolic and Inflammatory Gene Expression in White and Brown Adipose Tissue of Male Rats.

Stereoselective Reproductive and Intergenerational Toxicity of Prothioconazole in Female Zebrafish: Concurrent Ovarian Cytotoxicity and Endocrine Disruption.

Integrative analysis using Mendelian randomization and network toxicology reveals genetic support and potential mechanisms of atrazine in breast cancer.

The effects of flurochloridone exposure during pregnancy on maternal and fetal development.

Metals/Metalloids

Environmentally relevant uranium exposure impairs spermatogenesis in goats through redox imbalance, blood-testis barrier disruption, and steroidogenic suppression: A multi-omics study.

Gut-liver axis through microbiota-metabolite interplay driving age-dependent susceptibility to arsenite-induced liver injury in mice.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Effects of different micro- and nanoplastic polymers on steroidogenesis in a feto-placental in vitro model.

Respiratory exposure to polymethyl methacrylate nanoplastics impairs female fertility via ovarian accumulation and oocyte quality deterioration in mice.

Oxidative-stress-mediated apoptosis triggered by microplastics disrupts bovine oocyte maturation.

4-Phenylbutyric acid attenuates endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated polystyrene microplastic-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats.

Tire Wear Chemicals

Deciphering the conformational and functional alterations of α-glucosidase induced by emerging tire-derived contaminants 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone.

Near-road particulate matter from Washington D.C. has variable levels of 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone: acute and developmental impacts in zebrafish.

Inhibition in β-hydroxybutyrate synthesis by 6-PPD quinone at environmentally relevant concentrations is associated with immunosuppression induction in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Miscellaneous

Dibromoacetic acid impairs spermatogenesis: integrative evidence from human epidemiology, network toxicology, and mechanistic validation.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

High-throughput analysis method for the comprehensive assessment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, bisphenols, organophosphate esters, phthalates and personal care product additives in indoor dust.

Stress hormones in relation to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and rodenticide exposure in an avian top predator.

PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are widespread in UK fisheries.

Bisphenols/Parabens

Assessment of the Exposure of Spanish Children and Adolescents to Bisphenols and Parabens using Dietary and Human Biomonitoring Data.

Unveiling the landscape of BPS derivatives in urine from eastern and western Chinese population.

Phthalates

Green and Rapid Determination of Phthalates in Mineral Water From Virgin and Recycled PET Bottles.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Bioaccumulative contaminants in New Hampshire Common Loon eggs indicate widespread exposure to persistent organic pollutants.

PFAS

Exposure to legacy and replacement PFAS including perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) in a New York City-based pregnancy cohort.

Stuffed toys as a source of oral PFAS exposure: Migration into artificial saliva and exposure assessment.

Known and Novel Per/Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Serum of Tucson (AZ) Firefighters.

Is drinking water with low PFAS a significant source of human exposure? Evidence summary.

Understanding and Reporting PFAS Exposure: Wide-Scope Retrospective Suspect Screening of High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Data from Exposomics Studies.

Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Rainwater of South-Eastern Australia.

Pan-continental assessment of socioeconomic and environmental predictors of PFAS occurrence in European rivers from a harmonised monitoring study.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in land-applied biosolids: Accumulation in soils, crop uptake, and potential dietary risk.

Occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their precursors in biosolids across 15 U.S. states.

Distribution, seasonal variation, and bioaccumulation of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Korean rivers and coastal environments.

Pesticides

Widespread Use of Banned Pesticides and Weak Regulatory Enforcement: Environmental and Health Implications Among Farmers in Gombe State, Nigeria.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

The hidden cost of green food packaging: Biodegradable plastics release more micro/nanoplastics and enhance PFAS co-exposure.

Airborne microplastics as concentrators of anthropogenic heavy metals: Differentiation of intrinsic additive-derived metals and post-emission enrichment.

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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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