Human Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: A Review of Sources, Health Effects, and Biomonitoring Strategies

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are ubiquitous, persistent, and capable of interfering with hormonal signalling even at low concentrations, making human exposure to them an increasing global public health problem. The main sources of EDC exposure, related health impacts, and developments in biomonitoring techniques are all summarised in this study. Industrial chemicals, plasticisers, pesticides, medicines, phytoestrogens, and mycotoxins are only a few of the many synthetic and natural chemical families from which EDCs come. They enter human systems through contaminated air, water, soil, food, consumer goods, and work environments. Population risks are further increased by specific exposure pathways that impact vulnerable groups, especially during pregnancy and the early stages of life. Once absorbed, EDCs undergo complex toxicokinetic processes and can disrupt endocrine function through receptor modulation, altered hormone synthesis and metabolism, epigenetic regulation, oxidative stress, and non-monotonic dose–response dynamics. Epidemiological and mechanistic studies increasingly link EDC exposure to reproductive and developmental abnormalities, metabolic disorders, hormone-related cancers, neurodevelopmental and cognitive impairments, immune dysregulation, and systemic organ effects. Biomonitoring efforts using blood, urine, hair, nails, and breast milk combined with advanced analytical methods such as mass spectrometry and non-targeted screening provide critical insights into exposure patterns. Global biomonitoring data harmonisation and cumulative mixture risk assessment, however, continue to be difficult tasks. Reducing population loads requires enhanced risk characterisation frameworks, integrated exposure assessment models, and more robust regulatory measures. High-throughput toxicology, omics-driven biomarkers, and AI-enhanced modelling are examples of emerging technologies that offer intriguing ways to fill existing evidence gaps. In order to reduce EDC exposure and safeguard vulnerable populations, this review emphasises the necessity of concerted scientific, regulatory, and public health initiatives.