EDC Science Weekly, Oct. 24-30, 2025

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

Science summaries and highlights

Events

Oct. 31 webinar: Informing and advising on the state of the art, gaps, and future needs in micro- and nanoplastic and health research in Europe [CUSP]

Nov. 3 and 10 webinar series: From Cells to Solutions: Emerging Tools for Studying Health and Disease [NIEHS Superfund Research Program]

Nov. 5 webinar: Chemical regulation in a shifting political landscape [Science Action Network, CHE, UCS]

Nov. 12 webinar: Plastics in the built environment: Considerations related to artificial turf [CHE]

Nov. 12 webinar: Toxic chemicals in plastics [Beyond Plastics]

Nov. 13 webinar: Protecting Our Health: Toxic Threats, Trusted Solutions [Toxic-Free Future]

Nov. 14 CME event: Cancer and Environment [Silent Spring, Columbia University]

Nov. 17 webinar: Plastic Pollution and Human Health: What We Know and What We Can Do [UCSF]

Nov. 20 webinar: EDCs & Female Reproductive Health: A growing health concern [EDC Strategies Partnership]

Dec. 1: Due date for Reach the Decisionmakers 2026 [UCSF]

Dec. 10 webinar: CHE Café: Why Parkinson’s disease is preventable [CHE]

Dec. 11 webinar: Corporate Capture of Regulatory Science [PRHE, UCS, CHE]

Jan. 11-14: International Conference on Microplastics [in person in Santa Fe; late-breaking abstracts due Dec. 1]

Regulations/Policy

Trust and science: the essential elements missing from plastics treaty talks.

What now for the global plastics treaty?

Enhancing pesticide risk assessment processes at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Scientific and Regulatory Perspectives on Chemical Risk Assessment of Pesticides in the European Union.

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

Methods/Tools/Screening

In silico prediction of endocrine activity.

Towards NAM-based risk assessment for developmental neurotoxic effects, illustrated with chlorpyrifos.

Reproduction of the human relevant potency threshold (HRPT) for estrogen receptor alpha agonism in an inference performance screen for ICCVAM’s regulatory scientific confidence framework.

Report on the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) “New Approach Methodology (NAMs) User Forum”, 30 – 31 October 2024, Helsinki, Finland

In Silico Exploration of the Endocrine-Disrupting Potential of Phthalate Esters through Structural Interaction with the Human Androgen Receptor.

A new alternative method using cyp3a65 expression in transgenic zebrafish embryos to assess metabolic endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the intestine.

Mapping the Rise in Machine Learning in Environmental Chemical Research: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Commentaries

The Make America Healthy Again Strategy Report

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Compostable plastics: promise and pitfalls.

The PFAS Conundrum-Of Logic, Science, Policy.

Reviews/Meta-Analyses

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Epidemiological and experimental evidence of environmental factor-related autoimmune thyroid disease: A systematic review.

Prenatal Dietary Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors and Its Lasting Impact on Offspring Health.

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Male Infertility: Mechanisms, Risks, and Regulatory Challenges.

Endocrine Disrupting Agents: Toxicological Aspects on Male Reproduction.

Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in the Brain: The Example of Neurodevelopment Alterations upon Exposure In Utero to Synthetic Sex Hormones.

The Potential Release of Chemicals from Crumb Rubber Infill Material-A Literature Review.

Healthcare Waste Toxicity: From Human Exposure to Toxic Mechanisms and Management Strategies.

Bisphenols

Neurotoxic Effects of Bisphenol (BPA): Mini-Reviews.

Association of Bisphenol Exposure and Serum Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid Axis Hormone Levels in Adults and Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Phthalates

Exposure risks to phthalates by cosmetics and personal care products in Pregnant women and early life: Urinary levels, Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and mitigation strategies: a review.

PFAS

Sources and occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in industrial wastewater and assessment of current treatment approaches: A review.

Flame Retardants

An updated review of new brominated flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE): environmental fate, toxicokinetics, toxicity, and mechanisms based on adverse outcome pathway framework.

Emerging flame retardants in the marine environment: A comprehensive review of occurrence, fate and analytical challenges.

Pesticides

Association between pesticide exposure and thyroid cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Neonicotinoids and human health: Environmental fate, toxicity mechanisms, and future directions.

The role of cytochrome P450 genetic variants in pesticide metabolism and the risk of child neurodevelopment: a systematic review.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Toxic threats from plastic waste: human health impacts, challenges, and policy solutions.

The Silent Conquest: The Journey of Micro- and Nanoplastics Through Children’s Organs.

Microplastics and child health: A scoping review of prenatal and early-life exposure routes and potential health risks.

Potential effects of MPs and their co-pollutants on human intestinal tract.

An overview of research on the association between microplastics and central nervous system disorders.

Meta-analysis of the relationship between internal microplastic and health outcomes.

Reproductive toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics: Insights from experimental and human studies.

Breathing under siege: a narrative review on the potential biological mechanisms linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to lung diseases.

Microplastics as emerging stressors in plants: biochemical and metabolic responses.

Miscellaneous

Environmental and Human Health Risks of 6PPD and 6PPDQ: Assessment and Implications.

Organic pollutants leaching from tire waste: Ecotoxicity implications for aquatic species.

Human Health Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Racial differences in the associations between prenatal exposure to environmental phenol mixtures and preterm birth.

Associations between emerging endocrine-disrupting chemicals and thyroid hormone homeostasis in pregnant women.

Early Childhood Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting and Neurotoxic Chemicals: Associations with Internalizing and Externalizing Difficulties from Childhood to Adolescence in the Rhea Cohort, Crete, Greece.

Prenatal exposure to environmental phenolic compounds and their association with childhood atopic dermatitis, asthma, and allergic rhinitis in the ECHO cohort.

Associations between exposure to metals, chlorinated pesticides, and PCBs and differential leukocyte profiles in Flemish adolescents.

Synergistic Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Pediatric Lungs: Epidemiological Drivers and Disease-Associated Variations.

Association and mechanism of co-exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and blood heavy metals in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Bisphenols

Interactive effects of Bisphenol F exposure and TLR4 rs4986790 on unexplained miscarriage. [human and lab study]

Phthalates

Prenatal phthalate exposures and childhood allergies: Combined linear/nonlinear modeling reveals critical windows and sex differences.

Association of Exposure to Phthalate Metabolites with Antenatal Depression in US Pregnant Women.

Phthalates exposure as a risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus: Integrated evidence from epidemiological and human liver organoids studies. [human and lab study]

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Exposure to triclosan and triclocarban are associated with estrogen metabolism in Chinese pregnant women.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Exposure to organochlorine pesticides and mortality risk among individuals with diabetes: A prospective cohort analysis and network pharmacology study.

PFAS

Association between Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Childhood Growth Trajectories up to 4 Years of Age: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study.

Exploring the Association Between Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Exposure and the Risk of Stroke: A Systematic Investigation Using NHANES Data Analysis, Network Toxicology and Molecular Docking Approaches.

Flame Retardants

Cholesterol metabolism as a key target in triphenyl phosphate-induced testosterone biosynthesis disorder: Implications for male reproductive health. [human and lab study]

Pesticides

Prenatal Insecticide Exposure and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence for Mediation via Disruptions in Amino Acid and Acylcarnitine Metabolism.

Association Between Neonicotinoids and Neurobehavioral Development in Preschool Children from South China: A Biomonitoring-Based Study.

Mixture Effects of Commonly Applied Herbicides on County Level Obesity Rates in the United States: An Exploratory Ecologic Study (2013-2018).

Metals/Metalloids

Machine learning-based association between mixed metal exposure in early pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus: Mediating role of bile acid metabolism.

Hair mercury levels, serum n-3 fatty acids, and pregnancy glucose outcomes among women from a fertility center.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Study on the association between microplastic exposure and gut microbiota based on metagenomics: A pilot study on 66 young college students in China.

Air Pollution

The association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 constituents and diabetes incidence and blood glucose levels among World Trade Center Health Program General Responders.

Impact of fine particulate matter air pollution (PM_2·5) on Nigerian children’s performance on tests of cognitive and neurobehavioral development at age seven years.

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy and low birth weight and macrosomia: the role of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Long-term exposure of mice to sodium fluoride and to a mixture of endocrine disruptors causes tooth enamel and retina abnormalities associated with changes in hepatic metabolism.

Bisphenols

Exploring the pathophysiological relationship between bisphenol A exposure and ischemic stroke risk using network toxicology and machine learning.

Bisphenol F promotes lung cancer progression by MARK2-driven stimulation of proliferation, suppression of ferroptosis, and activation of EMT.

Myrtus communis essential oil mitigates bisphenol A-induced reproductive and lipidomic alterations in a male rat model.

Phthalates

A new insight into the mechanism of DEHP-induced cardiotoxicity: Triggering pyroptosis of cardiomyocytes by disrupting sphingolipid metabolism.

Probing the Cardiovascular Toxic Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Dibutyl Phthalate in Sprague-Dawley Rats Based on Oxidative Inflammation and Metabolic Pathways: Implications for the Heart and Blood Vessel.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Adipose tissue deposition and placental transfer of persistent organic pollutants in ewes.

PFAS

Perinatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances Impairs Maternal Care and Induces Depressive-like Behavior in Mice.

Multigeneration responses of the springtail folsomia candida to short-chain per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS).

Toxicity assessment of exposure to four short- and ultra-short PFAS using Daphnia magna and Hydra vulgaris as models.

Astaxanthin ameliorates perfluorooctane sulfonate-induced liver lipid metabolism disorders by targeting ACSL4-mediated ferroptosis.

Network Toxicology and Molecular Simulation Identify Key Genes and Pathways in PFAS-Induced Premature Ovarian In-sufficiency.

Absorption and Tissue Distribution of Environmental Pollutant HFPO-DA, and Its Effect on Hepatic Lipid Metabolism Reprogramming in Mice.

The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Mediates the Neurodevelopmental Toxicity of Perfluorooctane Sulfonamide in Zebrafish Larvae.

Vascular endothelial growth factor-containing conditioned medium from PFOS-exposed human granulosa cells promotes endothelial angiogenesis in vitro.

Reversibility of the reproductive toxicity induced by hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA) in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Flame Retardants

Chronic dietary exposure to BDE-47 can induce inflammatory responses in the brain of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and further trigger neurotoxicity through the 5-HT pathway.

Pesticides

Atrazine induces neurotoxic effects in dopaminergic systems via metabolomic and miRNA alterations.

New Insights into Biochemical, Genotoxic, and Analytical Aspects of Low-Level Imidacloprid Exposure in Liver and Kidney Tissue of Adult Male Wistar Rats.

Effects of the Novel Triazole Fungicide Ipfentrifluconazole on Different Endpoints in Zebrafish Larvae.

Microbial dysbiosis and hepatic inflammation under combined pesticide exposure: Insights into gut-liver axis disruption in Japanese medaka.

Boric acid protects against glyphosate-induced neurotoxicity by modulating oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and autophagy pathways in the rat brain.

Developmental, Hepatic, and Neurotoxicity of Dinotefuran and Ameliorative Effects of Rosmarinus officinalis.

Metals/Metalloids

Aminoguanidine attenuates arsenic-induced hepatic oxidative stress: Dose-dependent effects in a mouse model.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Emerging investigator series: unpacking PET: comparative analysis of leachable and extractable contaminants from virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles and textiles.

Maternal Exposure to Combined Cadmium and Polystyrene Nanoplastics Induces Offspring Testicular Dysplasia via Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species Overactivating the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α-Mediated Autophagy Signaling Pathway.

Low-dose polystyrene microplastics exposure promotes human prostate cancer cell proliferation via GPX4‑mediated ferroptosis.

Multi-omics analysis of testis after long-term exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics reveals premature testicular aging and age-dependent damage in mice.

In vivo exposure of mixed microplastic particles in mice and its impacts on the murine gut microbiome and metabolome.

Palliative effect of taurine against hepatic injury induced by polystyrene microplastics through antioxidant and metabolic pathway modulation in mice.

Particle size-dependent neurotoxicity of microplastics in zebrafish (Danio rerio): Spatially resolved lipidomics links metabolic dysregulation to neurological disorders.

Polymer-specific transformation of microplastics under soil freeze-thaw versus UV aging: Multiscale insights into atrazine interaction mechanisms.

Miscellaneous

Light-driven release of 6PPD and formation of 6PPD-Q from tire and road wear particles: Mechanisms and cytotoxicity.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Phthalates

School backpacks and commuter bags: A non-negligible source of human exposure to phthalate monoesters.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are still a threat to marine top predators from Brazil: POPs and halogenated natural bipyrrole in live, free-ranging Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, from a tropical estuary.

PFAS

Historical Blood Serum Samples from Wilmington, North Carolina: The Importance of Ultrashort-Chain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.

PFAS in bottled water from China: High prevalence of ultrashort-chain compounds, health risks, and global insights.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in seafood from Thailand: Levels, geographic distribution, and risk from dietary exposure.

Flame Retardants

Worker exposure to persistent organic pollutants, as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and biological hazards during the processing of waste upholstered domestic seating in Great Britain.

Metals/Metalloids

Cross-sectional associations of self-reported firearm use with blood lead concentrations in a nationally representative cohort of US adults.

Miscellaneous

Developing water quality criteria and assessing ecological risks for 6PPD and 6PPD-Q in freshwater ecosystems.

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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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