Phthalate Exposure and Precocious Puberty in Females

Objective To determine whether phthalate exposure is associated with precocious puberty in girls. Study design This was a multicenter cross-sectional study in which 28 girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) and 28 age- and race-matched prepubertal females were enrolled. Nine phthalate metabolites and creatinine were measured in spot urine samples from these 56 children. Results Levels of 8 of the 9 phthalate metabolites were above the limit of detection (LOD) in all 56 subjects. Mono (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) was below the LOD in 25/56 samples (14 subjects with precocious puberty and 11 controls). No significant differences between the children with CPP and the controls in either absolute or creatinine-normalized concentrations of any of the 9 phthalate metabolites were measured. Conclusions Although phthalates may be associated with certain other toxicities in humans, our study suggests that their exposure is not associated with precocious puberty in female children. (J Pediatr 2010;156:221-5).