Longitudinal association of prepubertal urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations with pubertal progression among a cohort of boys

Challenges in health risk assessment of multiple chemical exposures in epidemiological studies

“…However, in 2022 and 2023, Burns and others in the same study group reported that phthalates were associated with delayed onset of puberty in the Russian Children’s Study [ 12 , 13 ]. This group also published a paper showing that exposure to lead, organochlorine pesticides, and other chemicals is involved in delayed puberty onset (see the references cited below).…”

“…Relationship between phthalates and the onset of puberty. In 2022 and 2023, Burns and others published papers [ 12 , 13 ] in which they analyzed the relationship of urinary concentrations of metabolites of several antiandrogenic phthalates (BBzP, DnBP, DiBP, DEHP, and DiNP) at age 8–9 years old with male genital development after ten years (18–19 years old). In the 2022 paper [ 12 ], the authors found that elevated urinary concentrations of phthalates’ metabolites (individual and total concentrations) were associated with an 8–14 months delay in reaching pubic hair stage P2, and several of the same metabolites were associated with the delay of testicular developmental stage G2 and testicular volume > 3 mL by 5·4–7·5 months.…”

“…In the 2022 paper [ 12 ], the authors found that elevated urinary concentrations of phthalates’ metabolites (individual and total concentrations) were associated with an 8–14 months delay in reaching pubic hair stage P2, and several of the same metabolites were associated with the delay of testicular developmental stage G2 and testicular volume > 3 mL by 5·4–7·5 months. The 2023 paper [ 13 ] examined the effect of phthalates on year-to-year testicular development. It inferred that one metabolite, MBzP, suppressed testicular development by disturbing androgen-dependent pathways.…”

“…It should be noted that the EFSA’s risk assessment for dioxins [ 11 ] set tolerances without adjustment for phthalates, for which the results were only published 4–5 years later. In addition, another coexisting chemical (e.g., paraben) is planned for future analysis by the same study group [ 13 ]. If so, the overestimation of the tolerable intake value could be greater [ 11 ].…”