[Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals].

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are universally occurring substances with the potential to interrupt the hormonal system, although the definition of EDCs is not yet standardized. Similar to hormones, EDCs are potentially able to act at very low concentrations, which might be considered save from a toxicological viewpoint. Research over the past years showed that EDCs, even in low doses, might have a relevant impact on human health and the environment as well.The increase of disease burden and disability induced by EDCs causes substantial costs for society. Thus, besides the implications on personal and global health, EDCs affect the economy as well and pose a universal threat to society and environment. Many of the potentially hazardous substances are still inadequately examined and regulated.In this review, we give a brief summary on the previous efforts to classify EDCs and provide a short summary of the current knowledge.