Our modern lives are drenched in chemicals, some of which can mimic hormones in our body’s endocrine system.

Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some cancer rates are on the rise in humans. While sperm count and fertility is on a downward slide in some populations. What if chemical exposure was partly responsible for these trends?

One hypothesis is that a group of chemicals — known as ‘endocrine disrupting chemicals’ (EDCSs) — could affect human reproduction, puberty, metabolism and other functions controlled by hormones in our endocrine system.

Many suspected EDCs are already in your home — but how much risk do they really pose? At what exposure level do they become unsafe?

Unfortunately the answer is not straightforward, with a range of opinions held by scientists, industry and regulators.

In terms of scientific evidence, there are good laboratory studies that show some industrial chemicals affect endocrine function in mice and rats, and many examples of endocrine disruption in wildlife from chemicals in the environment.

However, it’s a lot harder to get conclusive evidence that these chemicals do the same in humans. This is partly because studying the long-term effects of everyday chemicals on humans is difficult.