Chemicals found in cosmetics that have caused women’s reproductive health issues are said to have cost Europe’s economy more than $1billion.

Problems occurring from exposure to the endocrine disrupting chemicals include developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune issues including endometriosis and uterine fibroids, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Researchers looked at women in Europe to determine the cost implications of two diseases from the chemicals: endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Assessing data from 12 European studies, researchers looked at the level of diphenyldichloroethene (DDE) exposure in women with fibroids as well as adult phthalate exposure and endometriosis, according to Reuters Health.

Looking at women of various ages, the cost outcome for the treatment of 56,000 cases of fibroids in 2010 – based on national databases from England, Germany and France, with the data on endometriosis costs coming from Belgium – came to $185 million. Meanwhile, according to the researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the cost for 145,000 cases of endometriosis amounted to $1.42 billion.

Despite the toxicology evidence linking the chemical to the conditions being low, there is still a call for policymakers to remove the chemicals from circulation and to update the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

However, estimates were not given for the cost of replacing the endocrine disrupting chemicals.