Endocrine Abstracts

Background: An endocrine disruptor is an exogenous chemical or mixture of chemicals that interfere with any aspect of hormone action. It can interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse cardiovascular, neurological, developmental, reproductive, and metabolic effects in humans. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of the medical students regarding the exposure, usage, and long-term harmful effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) in everyday products.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among medical students of Punjab state between January and April 2021 via Google Forms after a thorough literature search and expert input from healthcare specialists. Responses collected were used for analysis anonymously to ascertain students’ knowledge, exposure, and usage of EDCs using 1-5 Likert scale. Associations were examined using Chi-square and crosstabs analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics v26.0.

Results: Out of 403 respondents, the majority identified as male (56.3%) and fourthyear students (31.3%). The majority of students (84.9%) either felt extremely unknowledgeable or unknowledgeable about EDCs and were unaware (65.5%) of their concentration in everyday products and their effect on the synthesis, secretion, and elimination of natural hormones. The majority of them (75.2%) reported usage of plastic cans, plastic bottles, and/or cosmetics daily which contains Bisphenol A, Phthalates, and other EDCs of which they were unaware.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that student KAP regarding EDCs and their impact on biological systems require improvement. Considering the nocuous health effects linked to EDCs, multifaceted and multidisciplinary approaches regarding minimising their usage are required. Further large-scale studies, educational curriculum changes, and awareness drives may help to increase literacy towards EDCs and steer future policy development.