Medical experts fear that chemicals found in food and cosmetics are contributing to early signs of puberty in pre-teen girls
Many girls are developing breasts before reaching puberty in a scenario scientists believe is related to endocrine-disrupting agents, reports Politiken newspaper.
The average age for breast development has fallen by a full year for girls nationwide over the past 15 years, according to a project conducted by a research team at Rigshospitalet.
Over 2,000 girls between 5 and 20 took part in the study, the first group examined during 1992-1993 and the second from 2006-2008. The results will soon be published in US medical journal Pediatrics.The researchers are worried that man-made endocrine-disrupting substances are responsible for the trend.
‘We believe this is being caused by the girls’ environment - endocrine-disrupting agents that are able to advance breast growth in girls that have yet to reach puberty age,’ said Dr. Lise Aksglæde, pointing to parabens and phthalates as primary suspects. ‘These substances are found everywhere - in cosmetics, food, paint and so on.’
Dr. Anders Juul, head of Rigshospitalet’s Growth and Reproduction unit, called the development ‘disturbing’.
‘A dark horse affecting Danish children has come in from the sidelines and we don’t know what it is,’ he said. ‘We constantly get readings of phthalates and parabens from the children’s blood samples, but it doesn’t necessarily tell us whether they’re the cause or not.’
Children’s wards across the country are reporting a sharp increase in ‘pubertas praecox’, where girls demonstrate signs of puberty at the age of nine or 10. Politiken tracked down one pair of twins in Jutland who had already started to show signs of sexual maturity at the age of seven.
Researchers say that these girls have an increased risk for breast cancer and, without treatment for the excessive hormones, often fail to grow to their proper height. In addition, the girls commonly experience social and mental problems due to the premature physical changes.
