Hormone-mimicking chemicals that already have a bad rap for their role as endocrine disruptorsin the body (including the notorious bisphenol A (BPA) that has led to the shunning of plastic water bottles nationwide), are now thought to also screw with the body's metabolism and, depending on the amount and timing of exposure, predispose individuals to obesity. We're surrounded by these chemicals: BPA and pthalates are everywhere, from water bottles to dryer sheets to the PVC pipes that deliver your shower water, and they're taking their toll. Call them obesogens—scientists are, it's a term coined by Bruce Blumberg, a leading researcher on the issue, and a recent Newsweek storyillustrates the increasing body of evidence that links these chemicals to the body's metabolism.

The problem is two-fold: in developing fetuses and newborn babies, the compounds turn precursor (undeveloped) cells into fat cells, and they may interfere with the body's metabolic rate even later on, driving the body to store calories rather than burn them.

How?
No one's blaming these compounds for the country's entire obesity epidemic—fast food and lack of exercise are not off the hook—but emerging research points to them as one cause of the unexplained tendency for some individuals to gain weight no matter what (or how little) they eat or how much they exercise. Obesogens seem to have the ability to disrupt the fundamental rule of weight management and body chemistry: weight gain occurs when calorie consumption exceeds the amount of energy burned. A potential explanation is that the compounds disrupt the body's circadian rhythm and may cause weight gain by, for example, programming the body's clock to eat when it should be sleeping

The effects can also take place during developmental stages: as a Japanese study of cells growing in lab dishes showed, cells that would normally become fibroblasts, or connective tissue, actually became fat cells in the presence of industrial compounds like BPA. (Think of it something like stem cells: before these prefibroblasts are fully formed, their future identity is highly impressionable. In this case, their would-be fate as connective tissue is actually altered so they become fat tissue instead.) In the study, existing fat cells were also stimulated to grow faster and more plentiful.    READ MORE 

Avoid These 'Dirty Dozen' Toxic Chemicals
Stay healthy by steering clear of the worst chemicals that might already be in your house.

by Christine Lepisto
Thurday,  Dec 18 2008

It seems like you can't open a newspaper or magazine without reading warnings about hazards "you must avoid." Though many are carcinogenic and can pose serious health risks, which ones are the worst? Which ones do you really have to watch out for?