Overview of the Most Common Endocrine Disruptors: Exposure, Mechanism, Health Effects, and Remediation Strategies

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) represent a heterogeneous category of environmental pollutants that may disrupt hormonal pathways of signaling in human beings and wildlife, resulting in poor reproductive, metabolic, developmental, and immunological outcomes. Earlier warnings in Silent Spring and the historic Wingspread Conference have since been proven right when evidence continued to mount that daily exposure to EDCs was reached via air, water, food, consumer products, and work environments. This review synthesizes existing evidence on the most common endocrine disruptors such as atrazine, bisphenol A, dioxins, perchlorate, per- and polyfluoroalkyl, phthalates, triclosan, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and heavy metals. Exposure pathways, environmental levels, regulatory standards, molecular pathways of endocrine disruption, and health outcomes are critically analyzed for each compound or chemical group. It specifically focuses on endocrine targets, including the regulation of thyroid hormones, reproductive hormones, metabolic pathways, and developmental processes, which are combined using the results of experimental, epidemiological, and meta-analysis studies. As mechanistic evidence consistently confirms endocrine-disrupting potential, human population data are often heterogeneous, characterized by variability in exposure assessment, dose-response relationship, co-exposures, and biological susceptibility. Moreover, this review compares the existing remediation methods, such as physical, chemical, biological, and nature-based, pointing out their effectiveness, limitations, and applicability to environmental matrices. Altogether, the study results indicate the ongoing social health applicability of EDCs and the necessity of combined regulatory strategies, better exposure characterization, and enhanced remediation technologies to reduce long-term endocrine and ecological risks.