The effect of plastic substances on the pituitary gland

Approximately 6,300 million metric tons of plastic waste were produced from 1950 to 2015. Hazardous chemicals, like styrene monomers, could be found in plastics produced throughout recycling. Water, food, and the environment are all susceptible to such chemicals' leaching. Today's environment is largely made up of microplastics (MPs), which could magnify, adsorb, and spread contaminants like PCBs as well as include hazardous chemicals as part of the plastic. Since various chemicals that leach from plastics are EDCs, hazardous chemicals in plastics are a matter of concern. Those EDCs include phthalates, metals, brominated flame retardants, alkylphenol ethoxylates, bisphenols, perfluorinated compounds, and UV stabilizers. It is concerning that such EDCs are leaching from plastics because research has indicated that they can lead to abnormalities in immune, thyroid, metabolic, neurological, and reproductive functions. To safeguard the environment and public health from potentially dangerous EDCs in plastics, more work is still required, various compounds have not yet been studied for EDC activity and possible health effects. Study's objective: Our review aims to increase public awareness of the risks associated with plastic use because, along with their obvious effects on one of the most vital systems of the body, which is the endocrine system, including the pituitary gland which is regarded as the master regarding all endocrine glands and is responsible for the function of all other glands in the body plastic materials also represent a threat to the environmental pollution and, consequently, human health. Our study encourages the recycling and use of plastic materials.