ABSTRACT
To understand what endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are and how they act, one has to understand that hormonal or endocrine systems are a communication one. In multicellular organisms the communication between cells is essential to work in coordinated manner. These communication and integration of information are induced by chemical stimuli. The adjacent cells are connected by surface molecules and specialized junctions, while communication between cells that are remote is performed through the secretion of chemical messengers, hormones, which activate target cells by interacting with specic receptors (see Table 10.1 for details).
