Phthalates Exposure Linked to Enlarged Breasts in Boys
Another study has found adverse health effects caused by exposure to phthalates, a type of plastic chemical used to make hundreds of children’s toys and other consumer products.
This time, researchers in Turkey say they found increased levels of one common type of phthalate, DEHP, in more than half of boys with a condition called pubertal gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts.
DEHP and other phthalates are widely used to make plastics more flexible. They also are used in many paints, clothing, cleaning materials, food, and even some medical devices and pharmaceuticals, according to a Reuters news report.
Phthalates can build up inside the tissue of people exposed to high levels of the chemicals, resulting in severe health complications, including developmental problems involving the sexual organs. Growing children exposed to soft plastic toys containing phthalates are particularly vulnerable to developmental problems. Also, exposure to phthalates has been shown to shorten pregnancy.
The new report from scientists at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey found higher levels of DEHP in the blood of up to 65 percent of adolescent boys with gynecomastia. The condition usually resolves on its own after boys get through puberty, officials said.
The team of researchers measured levels of DEHP and its byproduct, MEHP, in 40 boys between the ages of 11 and 15 with gynecomastia and 21 healthy age-matched boys with no history of gynecomastia.
The levels of DEHP in the blood were much higher in the boys with gynecomastia than in those without the condition, the researchers found. Also, MEHP levels were considerably higher in the boys with gynecomastia than their healthy counterparts.
For boys with the highest MEHP levels, the risk of breast enlargement was nearly 25-fold higher than boys with lower levels, the study found.
The researchers suggest that DEHP is mimicking the activity of estrogen, which would explain the excess gynecomastia.
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