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In recent years there has been much concern about the many pesticides now suspected of being endocrine disrupters, chemicals that can cause effects such as an increase in birth defects and reproductive failure.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can interfere in some way with the body’s hormones, or chemical messengers. As yet, there are still many aspects of these substances that we do not currently understand.
For the purposes of this paper, endocrine disruptors are defined as "exogeneous chemicals or mixtures that alter function(s) of the endocrine system and consequently causes health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, or (sub)populations".