ABSTRACT
The US Environmental Protection Agency has defined endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as exogenous agents that interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones responsible for maintaining homeostasis and reproduction in live beings. The endocrine system consists of many interacting tissues that talk to each other and the rest of the body using signaling mediated by molecules called hormones. Numerous investigations have reported the effects of EDCs on the endocrine system of human beings such as sexual differentiation, ovarian function, sperm production and fertilization, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias, including changes in thyroid hormones. EDCs and emerging contaminants are commonly found in domestic wastewaters and in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants but mostly persist and are found in surface water in concentrations of microgram per liter to nanogram per liter. The instrumentation comprises a High-performance liquid chromatography attached, via a suitable interface, to a mass spectrometer.
