Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Pubertal Development

Abstract

During the past decades, advancement in pubertal onset especially in girls has been noticed worldwide. Genetic factors and increasing prevalence of adiposity may contribute, however ubiquitous presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is suspected to be involved in the trend of earlier pubertal onset. Most of known EDCs have estrogenic and/or anti-androgenic actions and few have androgenic or anti-estrogenic effects. Some studies reported earlier age at menarche after exposure to polycholori nated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated biphenyls, dicholordiphenyltrichloroethane, phthalate esters, while several other studies found no effect of these compounds on Tanner stages or age at menarche in girls. Limited studies reported an association of delayed puberty in boys and exposure to PCBs or the pesticide endosulfan. However, epidemiological research on the effects of EDCs on sexual maturation is hampered by many pitfalls, such as the mixture of many chemicals with different effects in environment, un identified critical window of exposure, and limited knowledge about the time lag between exposure and effect. In this paper, we re viewed possible mode of actions of different chemical compounds, and summarized animal/human studies shown the effects of EDCs on the pubertal development. (Endocrinol Metab 27:20-27, 2012)