**3. Potential adverse effects of EDC exposure**

The consequences of exposure to EDCs seem to be different depending on age and gender (**Table 3**). In the case of men, EDC exposure is suspected to cause alterations in the development of the genitourinary system including cryptorchidism, testicular cancer, and infertility [56, 57]. Among women, the increase in hormone-dependent cancers (either breast or ovarian) [56] as well as uterine fibroids and endometriosis might also be related to inadvertent exposure to EDCs. Moreover, chronic conditions such as metabolic syndrome and its components (obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, or dyslipidemia), neurobehavioral development disorders, and poor thyroid function are also on the list of possible effects of EDC exposure. In particular, in utero exposure to EDCs is believed to have consequences of such magnitude that they would hardly be suspected in studies of adult individuals. For example, in utero exposure to some EDCs has been linked to increased risk for breast cancer or endometriosis [58, 59]. This association gives maternal exposure some very particular peculiarities and places women of childbearing age in the limelight of most studies on endocrine disruption.
