# Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in the Brain: The Example of Neurodevelopment Alterations upon Exposure In Utero to Synthetic Sex Hormones

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, especially synthetic sex hormones, affect brain development and increase the risk of psychiatric disorders when exposure occurs during pregnancy.

## Contribution

The paper provides a detailed analysis of the multigenerational and transgenerational effects of in utero exposure to synthetic sex hormones.

## Key findings

- Exposure to endocrine disruptors during fetal life can lead to neurobehavioral and psychiatric disorders.
- French cohort data show that children exposed to synthetic hormones in utero are at higher risk for psychiatric conditions.
- The effects of endocrine disruptors may extend across multiple generations.

## Abstract

Endocrine disruptors contaminate indoor and outdoor air, water, and food. Besides modifications of the androgen/estrogen balance, endocrine disruptors can alter thyroid function, metabolic balance, immune defenses, and brain development during fetal life, childhood, and adolescence. Among the consequences of fetal exposure to endocrine disruptors, neurobehavioral disorders, particularly psychiatric disorders (for example, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), attention deficit disorders, and mood disorders, occupy a special place. Therefore, endocrine disruptors are also neuroendocrine disruptors. This review article first summarizes the direct and transgenerational effects of endocrine disruptors. Then, data from a French national cohort of patients whose mothers were treated with synthetic hormones (estrogens and/or progestogens) during their pregnancy(ies) are used to describe the psychiatric disorders developed by children exposed in utero and the multigenerational and potentially transgenerational impacts.