Endocrine system gonads, have secondary endocrine functions. For example, the kidney secretes endocrine hormones such as erythropoietin and renin. Hormones can consist of either amino acid complexes, steroids, eicosanoids, leukotrienes, or prostaglandins. The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes its hormones to the outside of the body using ducts. As opposed to endocrine factors that travel considerably longer distances via the circulatory system, other signaling molecules, such as paracrine factors involved in paracrine signalling diffuse over a relatively short distance. The word "endocrine" derives via New Latin from the Greek words , "endon", "inside, within," and ,
Endocrine disruptor to a lot of controversy due its potential estrogenic effect in humans. Tributyltin (TBT) are organotin compounds that for 40 years TBT was used as a biocide in anti-fouling paint, commonly known as bottom paint. TBT has been shown to impact invertebrate and vertebrate development, disrupting the endocrine system, resulting in masculinization, lower survival rates, as well as many health problems in mammals. Since being banned, the average human body burdens of DDT and PCB have been declining. Since their ban in 1972, the PCB body burden in 2009 is one-hundredth of what it was in the early 1980s. On