Substances suspected to be endocrine disruptors are currently to the fore in debates about pesticides. Of course, we know that it is not only a pesticides matter, as it occurs in detergency and cosmetics too. Hence let us take advantage of the current discussion to get in depth.

Experts (as A. Moretto, associated Professor at Milan University and chief of International Center for Pesticides and Health Prevention at Sacco Hospital) properly say that “endocrine disruptor” is quite an unclear term: for example, much of our food temporarily interfere with endocrine glands functions (ex.: sugar interferes with insulin production by the pancreas), but usually it is not a pathogenic interaction. Such cases show very well that, according to the substance, the dose must be considered, as well as understanding if there is an adverse effect or not. Moreover, it does make no sense extending to several chemicals the same toxicity: each substance is different from the others, so it needs to be singularly evaluated. [Source: Agronotizie.it]

Back to detergency and cosmetics, let we consider for example a study published in Pubmed by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which shows a likely correlation between serious endocrine problems in children and the use of lavender and Tea tree essential oils in cleansers and soaps. Since they are made with natural substances, moreover associated with very pleasant perfumes and traditionally thought to be moisturizers for the skin, people have a tendency not take into account the idea they could be toxic. Instead, in that case even the relatively little doses of substances were able to express their harmfulness on the babies.

In conclusion, we may identify the following key points:

  • the scientific experts in Toxicology can measure and assess the toxicity level of a substance, not only observing if a toxic effect was seen (qualitative assessment), but also measuring the strength of this effect (quantitative assessment);
  • the substances categories, particularly if they are macro-categories made with different kind of chemicals, in Toxicology are of little or no scientific value: each chemicals should be individually assessed.

This is the reason why Bensos carefully studies scientific literature data, with the aim to evaluate and reject all the long-term toxic ingredients, based on numerical parameters, epidemiological data, toxicological assessments and reviews collected or carried out by public institutions and universities.

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