Food preservatives are added to foods to preserve them for long-term use.
Scientists tested the effects of endocrine disruptors on humans. The three chemicals tested are: Butylhydroxytoluene BHT, Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA and tributyltin TBT.
Butylhydroxytoluene BHT, is an antioxidant commonly added to breakfast cereals and other foods to protect nutrients and keep fats from turning rancid.
Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOAis a polymer found in some cookware, carpeting and other products.
Tributyltin TBT is a compound in paints that can make its way into water and accumulate in seafood.
Scientists used hormone-producing tissues grown from human stem cells to demonstrate how exposure to these chemicals can interfere with the digestive system and the brain.
These chemicals enable people to continue eating, causing them to gain weight. Each of these chemicals damaged hormones that communicate between the gut and the brain.
BHT produced some of the strongest detrimental effects, these compounds can disrupt hormones that are critical to gut-to-brain signaling and preventing obesity.
Scientists obtained blood samples from adults, and then, by introducing reprogramming genes, converted the cells into induced pluripotent stem cells.
Then, using these stem cells, they grew human epithelium tissue, which lines the gut, and neuronal tissues of the brain's hypothalamus region, which regulates appetite and metabolism.
Scientists exposed the tissues to BHT, PFOA and TBT, one by one and also in combination, and discovered that the chemicals disrupted networks that prepare signaling hormones to maintain their structure and be transported out of the cells, thus making them ineffective.
The chemicals also damaged the cellular structures that convert food and oxygen into energy and drive the body's metabolism. Because the chemical damage occurred in young cells, a defective hormone system could impact a pregnant mother and her fetus.
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