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EDCs in personal care products may accelerate pubertal timing in girls
Exposure to phthalates in personal care products in utero or during peripubertal development may be associated with accelerated pubertal timing in girls, according to study findings published in Human Reproduction.
“We found evidence that prenatal and peripubertal exposure to certain phthalates, parabens and phenols present in personal care and consumer products was associated with pubertal timing in girls, but less so in boys,” Kim G. Harley, PhD, a reproductive epidemiologist with the Maternal and Child Health Program at the University of California Berkeley, and colleagues wrote. “Specifically, prenatal urinary concentrations of triclosan and 2,4-dichlorophenol were associated with earlier menarche and prenatal concentrations of [monoethyl phthalate] were associated with earlier pubarche in girls.”
Harley and colleagues analyzed data from 338 children and their mothers who were enrolled in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas, a longitudinal birth cohort of predominantly Latino mothers examining the effects of in-utero or early life exposures on children’s health. Researchers recruited pregnant women from community clinics in and around Salinas Valley between 1999 and 2000. Researchers interviewed mothers twice during pregnancy and again when children were aged 9 years. Children were followed through pubertal assessments every 9 months, conducted between ages 9 and 13 years (179 girls).
Concentrations of three urinary phthalate metabolites — monoethyl phthalate, or MEP, mono-n-butyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalate — were assessed via spot urine samples collected from children at age 9 years and from mothers during pregnancy. The researchers used accelerated failure time models to obtain mean shifts in pubertal timing associated with concentrations of prenatal and peripubertal biomarkers.
Within the cohort, 55% of children were overweight or obese at age 9 years, whereas 65% of mothers were overweight or obese prior to pregnancy.
Researchers found that each doubling of prenatal MEP concentration was associated with a shift in pubarche timing in girls by a mean of –1.3 months (95% CI, –2.5 to –0.1). Additionally, each doubling of concentrations of prenatal triclosan and 2,4-dichlorophenol (a degradation product of triclosan) was associated with a shift in menarche by a mean of –0.7 months (95% CI, –1.2 to –0.2) and a mean of –0.8 months (95% CI, –1.6 to 0), respectively.
In assessing peripubertal exposure in girls, researchers found each doubling of urinary concentrations of methyl paraben was associated with earlier thelarche (mean shift, –1.1 months; 95% CI, –2.1 to 0), earlier pubarche (mean shift, –1.5 months; 95% CI, –2.5 to –0.4) and earlier menarche (mean shift, –0.9 months; 95% CI, –1.6 to –0.1). Researchers also observed earlier pubarche with each doubling of propyl paraben in girls (mean shift, –0.8 months; 95% CI, –1.6 to –0.1).
Researchers did not observe any association between prenatal biomarkers and pubertal timing in boys. In assessing peripubertal concentrations, researchers observed an association between earlier gonadarche with each doubling of propyl paraben (mean shift, –1 month; 95% CI, –1.8 to –0.1),
The researchers noted that the study population was limited to Latino children of low socioeconomic status living in a farm community and may not be widely generalizable.
“This study contributes to the growing literature that suggests that exposure to certain endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may impact timing of puberty in children,” the researchers wrote. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.