Endocrine Disruptor Symbol

Forewarned is forearmed

Endocrine disruptors are one of the most challenging and dangerous chemical insults that human beings experience.

EDCs are enormously damaging to human health: they disrupt hormones, cause congenital damage in foetuses, and devastate male and female fertility.

EDC production has almost tripled in the last 20 years, and the effects persist through generations, affecting the children and even grandchildren of those originally exposed.

Worse, these chemicals are often described as ’forever chemicals’ because they do not break down over time. We have no good way to destroy or purify them.

This is a massive problem for humanity’s long-term health, and it is getting rapidly worse.

I want to increase awareness of these dangers by creating a new symbol for products and zones contaminated by EDCs, inspired by the trefoil hazard symbols for radiological and biological hazards, developed by UC Berkeley and Dow Chemical respectively.

Existing hazard symbols are recognised by billions of people, including chemical warnings for flammability and the like. But there is no comparable signal for which products contain EDCs, or how much -- a gap that affects both industry and, especially, consumers.

A standardised symbol denoting EDCs in products and processes would let us account for these chemicals for the first time, facilitating consumer awareness, industrial safety, world trade, and ethical production and consumption.

Below is our second draft submission, with example implementations. The central symbol is a stylised BPA molecule with a dioxin molecule below it, flanked by three radiative blades symbolising birth defects, infertility, and chronic disease. These elements together form the grotesque Endohazard Wraith, intended to convey an arresting, instinctive sensation of danger and revulsion across all cultures, irrespective of familiarity with the symbol’s meaning.

The next step is to refine the design if necessary and specify it formally within an official standard.

I’ve put up a landing page at www.endohazard.org

Watson & Arabadzhi, 2021. Public Domain.