suspicious look at plastics.
Another study, in Puerto Rico, which
has seen alarmingly high rates of breast
development in young girls, found that
girls who developed earlier were three
times more likely to have high blood lev-
els of phthalate esters. These chemicals
are commonly found in plastic toys, food
packaging and cosmetics.
Another study of Michigan children,
who had accidentally been exposed
in utero to polybrominated biphenyls
(common fire retardants), reported that
the girls ended up menstruating one
year earlier than the control group. Yet
another study pointed to estrogen-
mimicking compounds found in the hair
products of African-American women as
a factor in hastening the puberty of their
Parents say it can be baffling for a preschooler to make children.
sense of a changing body and hormone-fueled mood
In addition to chemicals and obesi-
swings, or for a second-grader to have to remember to
ty, experts have implicated hormones in
milk, meat and soy. Others hypothesize
put on deodorant or bring a pad to school.
that a girl raised in a home with a man
other than her biological father, such as
community should be doing a better job could have on timing for the onset of a stepfather, can physiologically react to
of investigating them. “We are accept- puberty, but a flood of new science has his chemical scents, called pheromones,
ing the problem, rather than raising the begun to prove them right. setting her own hormonal cascade into
alarm,” Sellman says. In April, a report by the National motion. Some point to the increased
Number one on her list is the group Toxicology Program of the National Insti- sexualizing of children in television and
of ubiquitous, hormone-mimicking tutes of Health called into question the print advertising. Many say that more
chemicals now present in our environ- safety of bisphenol A (BPA), a common stress and less exercise are culprits
ment, which show up in everything from ingredient in polycarbonate plastic water “In the animal industry, to hasten
plastics in toys to pesticides on foods. bottles, sippy cups and baby bottles. The puberty, they keep the animals confined,
“These chemicals are perceived by report noted that when laboratory rats they feed them really rich diets, and they
the body as hormones and programmed were exposed to BPA, they experienced grow really fast. That is exactly what
into children’s systems at a vulnerable a host of health problems, including we are doing to our children,” observes
time,” she says. “In some cases, they are unusual timing of puberty. Herman-Giddens.
hardwired at birth.” The report prompted many com- Slow the Future
For years, Sellman and others like panies, including Nalgene, to pull its While it is important to identify the
her were largely ignored when they BPA products off the shelves. Parents causes of early puberty, we also must ask
warned of the impact certain chemicals nationwide began to take a closer, more what it means for the future, caution
38 Broward County
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