Role of flame-retardants as EDCs in metabolic disorders

The destructive potential of fire is well known and thus it makes sense to prevent it from happening at all, or slow its rate of spread and to be able to stop it as soon as it happens in undesirable situations. Flame retardants (FRs), as the name indicates, are chemical substances with the capability of slowing down or preventing the growth of fire, have been used in many households and industrial products for a while now. Many kinds of FRs are currently in use, such as halogenated, organophosphosphate, nitrogenous, inorganic and intumescent coatings. These products are also well known to have many side effects, including carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, and immune system disorders. Not all fire retardants are made or function the same way thus vary in extent of fire-retardant capacity as well as toxic side effects. Herein we succinctly describe various classes of chemical FRs, and associated biological hazards to humans. We have also described underlying mechanisms or pathways that may possibly be involved in inducing endocrine disruption leading to obesity, diabetes, oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.