14 DAY TRIAL // Human contamination filled the environment with estrogen-mimicking chemicals. For example, bisphenol A, a primary monomer in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, is a common constituent of many products, from sunglasses and CDs to water and food containers and shatter-resistant baby bottles to dental fillings. These chemicals have been linked to sterility in women and usually accumulate in waters and water food chains, fish being loaded with them (and this explains many abnormal hermaphrodism cases signaled in the recent years in heavily contaminated areas).
A new research signals another environmental source of estrogens, linking it to abnormal growth and hormonal development of girls. Mycoestrogen (fungus-originated estrogen) zearalenone (ZEA), synthesized by the Fusarium fungus species, is encountered naturally in the environment and mimics the female-sex hormone estrogen and anabolic growth agents employed in farm animals. Some mycoestrogens have been connected to the early onset of puberty in girls.
The team led by Dr. Francesco Massart from the University of Pisa (Italy) investigated girls affected by the early onset of puberty (central precocious puberty (CPP)) from Tuscany, a region characterized by a higher than average percentages of CPP. 6 out of the 17 subjects with CPP presented higher than normal levels of ZEA.
"Although this finding might be incidental, ZEA may be related to CPP occurrence in girls exposed to mycoestrogens. However, the presence of ZEA pollution could not explain the epidemic of CPP in the region, suggesting that other environmental factors such as herbicides and pesticides may be involved," said Massart.
As ZEA mimics anabolic growth agents, it could accelerate growth in exposed children. The research did not come with a definitive explanation for the higher rates of CPP in that area of Tuscany, but it points that the effects could be due largely to the negative effects of environmental contaminants.