Junk food advertising isn’t the only culprit in the U.S. obesity crisis — chemicals play a role, too.

For example, endocrine disrupters — chemicals lurking in the environment that can act like hormones and disrupt endocrine signaling pathways — are known to contribute to obesity.

Endocrine disruptors, found in most plastic products (even those marked “BPA-free”), include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), phthalates and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) –– compounds frequently used in industry and found in pesticides and in consumer, household and building products.

In his article, “Endocrine Disruptors and the Obesity Epidemic,” Jerrold J. Heindel wrote, “The level of chemicals in the environment is purported to coincide with the incidence of obesity.”

Scientists are increasingly looking at endocrine disrupter exposure “during critical stages of development” in children as a factor in later obesity, according to research in the International Journal of Andrology.

Pregnant women who showed high levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), another endocrine disruptor, were 3 times as likely to have daughters who grew up to be overweight, The New York Times reported.

Perro singled out glyphosate, the main chemical in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, which is “ubiquitous in every American child’s diet” and is a “known endocrine disruptor and obesogen.”

“Without a conversation about the environmental toxicants in our children’s diets, water and air affecting their metabolic health, we have missed the mark,” Perro said.

“It goes without saying that focusing on a healthy diet is paramount in educating families, but must include a conversation about eating organics and avoiding GMOs and pesticides.”