Table 2.
Impact of the endocrine disruptors on obesity in different age groups.
| Obesogens | Childhood obesity | Adolescent obesity | Adult onset obesity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bisphenol A (BPA) | Urinary BPA (>5.4 ng/mL) was associated with childhood obesity (OR: 2.55 (95%CI: 1.65, 3.95) (p < 0.01) [144] | Urinary BPA (1.24 ng/mL) was associated with adolescent obesity OR: 1.10 (95% CI: 0.89–1.35) [145] | BPA (median concentration of 1.1 ng/mL) was associated with general obesity, OR: 1·78 (95% CI 1·10–2·89; p = 0·04) and abdominal obesity OR: 1·55 (1·04–2·32; p = 0·02) [146] |
| Phthalates | No clear trend was seen for the association between BMI and urinary monoethyl phthalate quartiles in boys and girls (p > 0.05) [68] | BMI (p-trend = 0.03) and WC (p-trend = 0.02) increased with urinary monoethyl phthalate quartile in adolescent girls [68] | BMI increased with urinary monoethyl phthalate quartile in 20–59-year-old women but the effect was less strong compared to adolescent girls (p-trend = 0.14) [68] |
| Atrazine | Odds of early menarche for girls with Diamino-chlorotriazine (atrazine analyte) exposures ≥ median was 1.86 (95% CI: 1.03, 3.38) [147] | NA | Farmers who were exposed to pesticides had higher urinary atrazine mercapturate compared with controls (P < 0.05); but no association was observed between atrazine mercapturate and oxidative stress markers (p > 0.05) [148] |
| Organotins | A trend towards higher weight gain was seen from birth to 3 months of age with increasing placenta tributyltin concentration (p = 0.024) [149] | NA | Mean measured levels of tributyltin in human serum samples reached concentrations (~27 nm) sufficient to activate high-affinity receptors such as RXR and PPARγ [150] |
| Organophosphates (OPs) | NA | NA | A significantly higher risk of arrhythmia was observed in the OPs poisoning cohort [subhazard ratio (SHR) = 1.25] compared with the non-OPs poisoning cohort, particularly in men (SHR = 1.33) and those under 49 years of age (SHR = 3.16) [94] |
| Monosodium glutamate (MSG) | NA | NA | For users in the highest tertile of MSG intake compared to non-users, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratios of overweight were 2.10 (95% CI, 1.13–3.90, P for trend = 0.03) and 2.75 (95% CI, 1.28–5.95, p = 0.04) [96] |
| Clozapine | Clozapine (mean dose 304.9 ± 121.9 mg/day) increased weight from 124.7 ± 25.6 lb to 134.2 ± 27.4 lb (p < 0.0001) and mean BMI from 21.4 kg/m2 to 22.9 kg/m2 (p < 0.001) [151] | Absolute and percentage average weight gains due to clozapine exposure (9.5 ± 10.4 kg; 14.8 ± 15.8%) [152] | Clozapine dose had no relation to weight change between 3 and 12 months of clozapine therapy in community-dwelling patient [153] |
| Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) | Prenatal exposure to di-ortho PCBs was significantly associated with increased birth weight (β = 137; p = 0.02) [154] | NA | NA |
| Organobromines | A 10-fold increase in maternal serum 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-Hexabromodiphenyl ether was associated with lower BMI z-score (β = −0.36, 95% CI, −0.60 to −0.13) at 2–8 years, smaller waist circumference (β = −1.81 cm; 95% CI, −3.13 to −0.50) at 4–8 years, and lower percent body fat (β = −2.37; 95% CI, −4.21 to −0.53) at 8 years [155] | NA | NA |
| Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) | Exposure to PFOA in early life increased the z-score of childhood BMI (β = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.17; I2 = 27.9%) [156] | NA | ORs (and 95% CI) for overweight risk by increasing PFOA exposure category for women were 1.0 (ref), 1.0 (0.8, 1.3), 1.0 (0.8, 1.2), 1.0 (0.8, 1.2), 0.9 (0.7, 1.1), and 0.9 (0.7, 1.1) and for men were 1.0 (ref), 0.9 (0.6, 1.1), 1.0 (0.7, 1.3), 1.0 (0.8, 1.4), 0.7 (0.5, 0.9), and 0.9 (0.7, 1.1). ORs for adult obesity risk were similar [157] |
| Genistein | NA | NA | Consumption of genistein for 2 months reduced basal insulin levels by 24% (p value = 0.05) and a reduced HOMA- IR index by 28% [158] |
| Heavy metals | Higher prenatal Cd levels were associated with higher obesity risk at 5 years of age where the effect of Cd (β = 3.18, se = 1.30, p = 0.014) was robust and corresponds to a ~25-fold increase in obesity for every one ng/g increase in blood weight of Cd [159] | The HOMA-IR value was significantly and positively related to the sum of the urinary inorganic and methylated arsenic concentrations and also the BMI Z score, with the regression coefficients (β) being 0.058 (p < 0.001) and 0.001 (p = 0.027), respectively [160] | Arsenic-related cancer ORs >20 were seen in those with elevated BMIs in both early adulthood and in later life [161] |
| Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) | There was no significant positive relation between in utero DDT exposure and obesity status of 7-year-old children [138] | Prenatal DDT exposure was associated with several adiposity measures in boys but not girls. Among boys, 10-fold increases in prenatal DDT were associated with increased BMI z-score (adj-β = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.65) [162] | NA |
| Nicotine | Overweight and obese children with passive smoke exposure had greater overall and central adiposity than nonexposed overweight and obese children (p < 0.03) [163] | NA | Among smokers, the risk of obesity increased with the amount smoked and former heavy smokers were more likely to be obese than former light smokers (OR: 1.60, 95% 1.56–1.64, p < 0.001) [164] |
NA: Not applicable (literature not available).
OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence Interval.