| Identification of Phthalate Esters in the Serum of Young Puerto Rican Girls with Premature Breast Development Ivelisse Colón,1 Doris Caro,1 Carlos J. Bourdony,2,3 and Osvaldo Rosario1 1Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Division, San Juan City Hospital, San Juan, Puerto Rico
3Department of Pediatrics, University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico Abstract
Premature breast development (thelarche) is the growth of mammary tissue in girls younger than 8 years of age without other manifestations of puberty. Puerto Rico has the highest known incidence of premature thelarche ever reported. In the last two decades since this serious public health anomaly has been observed, no explanation for this phenomenon has been found. Some organic pollutants, including pesticides and some plasticizers, can disrupt normal sexual development in wildlife, and many of these have been widely used in Puerto Rico. This investigation was designed to identify pollutants in the serum of Puerto Rican girls with premature thelarche. A method for blood serum analysis was optimized and validated using pesticides and phthalate esters as model compounds of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Recovery was > 80% for all compounds. We performed final detection by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. We analyzed 41 serum samples from thelarche patients and 35 control samples. No pesticides or their metabolite residues were detected in the serum of the study or control subjects. Significantly high levels of phthalates [dimethyl, diethyl, dibutyl, and di-(2-ethylhexyl) ] and its major metabolite mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were identified in 28 (68%) samples from thelarche patients. Of the control samples analyzed, only one showed significant levels of di-isooctyl phthalate. The phthalates that we identified have been classified as endocrine disruptors. This study suggests a possible association between plasticizers with known estrogenic and antiandrogenic activity and the cause of premature breast development in a human female population. Key words: endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalate esters, premature thelarche. Environ Health Perspect 108:895-900 (2000) . [Online 8 August 2000] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p895-900colon/ abstract.html Address correspondence to O. Rosario, Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 23346, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931-3346. Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 7367. Fax: (787) 763-6899. E-mail: rosario129@hotmail.com We acknowledge the Environmental Protection Agency-Minority Academic Institutions Traineeship Program, Research Centers at Minority Institutions Program (grant RR03641) ; the Pediatric Endocrinology Division, San Juan City Hospital ; the Clinical Laboratory, San Juan City Hospital ; and the Premature Thelarche and Early Sexual Development Registry, Puerto Rico Department of Health. Received 18 May 1999 ; accepted 9 May 2000.
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