The dose, the cure and the poison

The dose makes the poison?

In order to understand the sneaky nature of hormone disruptors, we need to understand how they work and most importantly how they do not work.

It all started with Paracelsus, the father of toxicology and his famous principle “The dose makes the poison”. In simple words, as the dose increases, so does the effect, which is a beautifully predictable situation. While this is true for many chemicals – manmade or natural – it doesn’t apply to all of them. A grand example is hormone disrupting chemicals that alter hormone balance and exert their biological effects, even in miniscule amounts. 

The “dose makes the poison” argument is used by many (industry representatives and industry-sponsored scientists), who argue that the amounts of hormone disrupting chemicals present in consumer products is minimal and hence is no real problem for human biology.

This is NOT a classic example of poisoning. Even with a constant infinitesimal exposure, this is a slow process, initially undetectable and its effects could take years or decades to show up, making it particularly difficult to pinpoint the relationship between cause and effect.  This is a whole different story, an exception from what Paracelsus correctly observed nearly 500 years ago. 

How hormone disruptors work

The unconventional way that hormone disruptors operate caused initially controversy among scientists, but eventually the first official scientific statement of the Endocrine Scientific Society in 2009, clarified that indeed these substances follow a different dose-response pattern (called non-monotonic dose response)

“even infinitesimally low levels of exposure—indeed, any level of exposure at all—may cause endocrine or reproductive abnormalities, particularly if exposure occurs during a critical developmental window. Surprisingly, low doses may even exert more potent effects than higher doses.”

When it comes to tiny doses causing grand biological effects, let’s consider for example, real hormones, produced in our body. Think puberty, when a child “suddenly” starts developing adult genital organs, body and facial hair shows up, mood changes and list goes on and on… Huge effects in the body, right?? It is a real transformation!

And it all starts from the production of small amounts of sex hormones, which are produced in our body. In this case though in a careful, time-sensitive and tightly controlled manner.

In a similar way, constant, daily and chronic exposure to synthetic chemicals that behave like hormones, even in the tiny (or even smaller) amounts that hormones normally operate, will trigger major effects in the body.

But in this case NOT in a controlled or time-sensitive manner.

Endocrine Disruptors –-> Constant + Daily + Lifelong Exposure

Why constant, daily and chronic exposure you may ask? Because the sources of these chemicals are many, hidden in plain sight in the most essential and many fundamental consumer products that we use every single day. 

And this brings us to the second argument against the whole “the dose makes the poison” argument. 

Have we ever considered the total, daily and lifelong exposure to endocrine disruptors? Obviously, it makes no difference to the body if X amount of fake estrogen comes from your shampoo, 2X amounts from the body cream, another X amount from the plastic food container and X from your perfume or heavily scented cleaning products used in the house… The body “knows” that it is being exposed to 5X amount of toxins. Period.

The above reasoning may seem exaggerated to some, but it is actually an understatement. A 2023 survey found that the average woman uses 13 personal hygiene and cosmetic products every single day, which results in daily exposure to 114 health-harming chemicals. 

Count the total exposure (and its biological effects) to that.

And this is just personal hygiene and cosmetics… What about other sources of toxic chemicals, like kitchenware, pesticides, clothes etc?

We also know for 20 years now that when we talk about lifelong exposure, we absolutely count in pregnancy – a critical developmental stage that determines health status/potential permanently. This pioneering pilot study (that was never replicated, despite the disturbing findings) found that newborns begin their life with more than 200 toxic chemicals in their cord blood, some of which are neurotoxins, cancer-causing chemicals and more.

Admittedly, not a good start…

So, does the dose always makes the poison? No, it does not for hormone disruptors. These substances work in a VERY different way in the body than the usual stuff. Amounts are always absolutely tiny, effects are major and we are not even close to honestly counting the total, life-long and real-time exposure.

The seminal Scientific Statement of the Endocrine Society, regarding hormone (endocrine) disruptors made it clear that 

“endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology. Results from animal models, human clinical observations, and epidemiological studies converge to implicate EDCs (endocrine disrupting chemicals) as a significant concern to public health.”

Health vs. Profit

If hormone disruptors are so dangerous, why are they so ubiquitous? Why are they still present in so many consumer products? People may think that the lack of strict regulations and official warnings confirms that hormone disruptors may not be such a problem or a problem at all. Scientists should say something, right?

Well, they have done so. A great example is the declaration of more than 100 scientists in 2016, which was published in the French newspaper Le Monde. It is a magnificent read (highly recommended!) which reveals how politics and vested interests have been “manufacturing doubt”, delaying protective actions with serious health consequences for the people and the environment globally. 

“Scientific evidence has been willfully distorted by individuals denying the science and actors sponsored by industry interests creating the false impression of a controversy…. Never before have we faced a higher burden of hormonal diseases, such as cancers of the breast, testes, ovaries and prostate, compromised brain development, diabetes, obesity, non-descending testes, malformations of the penis, and poor semen quality. The overwhelming majority of scientists actively engaged in researching the causes of these worrying health trends agree that several factors are involved, among them chemicals capable of interfering with our hormone systems.”

What do we do?

We do have options and the right to choose, as long as we have access to reliable information and knowledge. So, do stay informed!

Choose non-toxic products and organic produce whenever possible! It makes a HUGE difference for our bodies. Most adults have significant detoxification mechanisms that will catch up fast, if we consciously lower our daily toxic load. Babies and children need more protection because they can’t get rid of toxins very well and tend to accumulate toxins in general. 

If you are pregnant, do take extra care with your food and the products you put on your skin and/or smell. Skin absorption is a sneaky way for large quantities of toxins to get into our (and the baby’s) body and synthetic fragrance is a major source of powerful hormone disruptors… [read more about skin absorption here]

ATUA LAB gives you access to premium non-toxic cosmetics. No hormone disruptors, no synthetic fragrances, no parabens, only safe materials to make our innovative products.

Check them out here…