Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in the Brain: The Example of Neurodevelopment Alterations upon Exposure in utero to Synthetic Sex Hormones

Endocrine disruptors contaminate indoor and outdoor air, water and food. Besides modifications of the androgen/estrogen balance, endocrine disruptors can alter thyroid function, metabolic balance, immune defenses and brain development during fetal life, childhood and adolescence. Among the consequences of fetal exposure to endocrine disruptors, neurobehavioral disorders, particularly psychiatric disorders (for example, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), attention deficit disorders and behavioral disorders, occupy a special place. Therefore, endocrine disruptors are also neuroendocrine disruptors. This review article first summarizes the direct and transgenerational effects of endocrine disruptors. Then, data from a French national cohort of patients whose mothers were treated with synthetic hormones (estrogens and/or progestogens) during their pregnancy(ies) are used to describe the psychiatric disorders developed by children exposed in utero and the multigenerational and potentially transgenerational impacts.