08/19/2026
🔌 Many of us are aware of endocrine disruptors found in numerous consumer products, including plastics, food packaging, and particularly microplastics, but we often exclude cosmetics as a source. You may be surprised that cosmetics represent a major and often overlooked source of daily chemical exposure for women. This article will be split into two parts, where in part 1 we will review endocrine disruptors, and in part 2 we will review what we can do as consumers to manage this issue.
💅 When we speak in terms of cosmetics in this article, we are discussing what women and men may apply daily, which include skincare, sunscreens, perfumes, and makeup items. Many of these products contain chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, and bisphenols, all of which have been linked to adverse metabolic outcomes. These compounds can impair pancreatic cell function, disrupt insulin receptor signaling, affect cardiometabolic health, alter glucose transport, be connected to metabolic syndrome, and promote adipocyte differentiation. It is also believed that these endocrine-disrupting chemicals may bind directly to steroid hormone receptors and modify transcriptional pathways. Research has concentrated on reproductive dysfunction too, such as infertility, menstrual irregularities, and altered ovarian function (e.g., polycystic ovarian syndrome).
🌿 While our skin is the main route of exposure, it is not the only route of absorption. We can inhale endocrine-disrupting compounds through our lungs, from hairsprays and fragrances. Including our nail beds, we can absorb concerning chemicals from nail polish. Nail polish may contain three widely publicized toxic chemicals: toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (known as the toxic trio). In fact, a research study in 2000 showed that women of reproductive age experience much higher exposure to dibutyl phthalate than any other age or gender groups.
✨Besides the mutagenic potential of cells exposed to these chemicals, the excess signaling mimicking our hormones can lead to the impairment of skeletal muscle glucose uptake and promote hepatic gluconeogenesis. Androgen receptor expressions in metabolic tissues may amplify this effect by modulating transcription of genes involved in glucose transport, lipid metabolism, and adipocyte differentiation. This lends to the idea that with higher cumulative endocrine disruptor chemicals and increased androgen receptor expression may be vulnerable to metabolic dysfunction, thyroid dysfunction, and obesity.
🍸This is further complicated by the combination effects (synergism, additivity, and inhibition) because the use of more than one endocrine disruptor at one time makes the notion of a safe serving size of a single chemical not guaranteed as harmless. Basically, a “cocktail effect” due to the combination of such products during the day. Also, most of these endocrine-disrupting contaminants are not chemically related to natural hormones, making the prediction of their action difficult.
⚡️Another concept to consider is that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals begins in utero. This exposure is often during critical developmental stages that do not just start with the embryo but go on to adolescence and puberty.
🍃 This is the end of part 1, and in part 2 we review herbs and other practices to remove these endocrine-disrupting chemicals from our bodies.
👩❤️👨Couple of Doctors
Author: Dr. Shailinder Sodhi & Dr. Anju Sodhi
