Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals is costing the United States more than $340 billion a year in treatment compared with $163 billion a year in the European Union, according to a new study by researchers at New York University Langone Medical Center.

The study was published online Oct. 17 in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.

The disparity in costs is attributed to stricter regulation of chemicals in the European Union.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals alter the body’s normal hormonal functions. EDC are linked to neurological conditions, reproductive problems, cancer, premature births, obesity and diabetes.

Even very small levels of exposure can result in severe damage, especially in young children.

Exposure to EDCs comes primarily from flame retardants (used in upholstered furniture, mattresses, drapes, carpets, sleepwear, televisions and plastic-encased electronics), plastics, food cans lined with plastic, pesticides, Teflon and other mixes of chemicals.

Pesticide exposure was estimated to result in a loss of 1.8 million IQ points and lead to 7,500 more cases of mental disability diagnoses each year with a total health cost of $44.7 billion annually.

“Based on our analyses, stronger regulatory oversight of endocrine-disrupting chemicals is needed,” said, Leonardo Trasande, M.D., lead investigator on the study.

Trasande said the study’s estimates of damage are low.

“Our research adds to the growing evidence on the tremendous economic as well as human health costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” he said.

The complete report can be accessed at:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(16)30275-3/fulltext

Dr. Gail S. Prins recently spoke about endocrine-disrupting chemicals, presenting the sixth annual Robert A. Flinn endowed lecture at Jump Simulation center. She said residents of central Illinois are exposed to high levels of pesticides and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Prins, professor of physiology and urology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the government must be forced to regulate chemicals for the benefit of society and the public, not for the benefit of industry.