Endocrine disruptors may cause abnormal development, tumors and fertility disorders. They enter the environment through air and water, and they are able to accumulate there. Possible ways of combating this include the renovation of sewage plants, but measures taken at source must also be considered.
Endocrine disruptors upset people’s and animals’ hormonal balance by imitating or blocking naturally occurring hormones. In this way, they may result in abnormal development or tumors.
Additive impact
Endocrine disruptors or substances suspected of affecting people’s hormonal balance can be found in many products such as solvents, flame retardants, medicines and even crop products. Reports have also been published about sunscreens with UV filters that affect the hormonal balance. The most significant contribution to the hormonal burden measured in the environment is made by natural and artificial oestrogens such as in contraceptive pills.
Endocrine disruptors can already have an effect in concentrations below the threshold of conventional toxicity. Mixtures of such substances have an additive impact and may trigger effects even if their individual components occur in non-toxic concentrations. Endocrine disruptors enter the environment both through the air – attached to dust particles – and through water, and they can accumulate in lakes, watercourses and sewage sludge. The long-term consequences for ecosystems remain largely unclear.
Ban them, replace them or weaken their effect?
In view of this risk potential, there is an urgent need for action. Science, industry and public administration agree that endocrine disruptors or substances with a potential to have such effects must be replaced by substances with a more propitious risk profile. In addition, a ban on brominated flame retardants should be considered.
For the aquatic environment, the introduction of a quality target for oestrogenic activity is of great significance. Sewage plants ought to be extended in accordance with the present-day level of technology so that they will be able to guarantee a substantial elimination of micropollutants, to which endocrine disruptors belong, and a maxi- mum dilution of wastewater. Further-reaching technical measures such as ozone treatment are also necessary. Finally, measures taken at source should also be considered: alternative systems of urban drainage should prevent problematic substances from reaching sewage plants in the first place.
