Background: Exposure to hormonally active chemicals could plausibly affect pubertal timing, so we are investigating this in the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program.

Objectives: Our goal was to examine persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in relation to pubertal onset.

Methods: Ethnically diverse cohorts of 6- to 8-year-old girls ( n = 645) provided serum for measure of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and lipids. Tanner stages [breast (B) and pubic hair (PH)], and body mass index (BMI) were measured at up to seven annual clinic visits. Using accelerated failure time models, we calculated time ratios (TRs) for age at Tanner stages 2 or higher (2+) and POPs quartiles (Q1–4), adjusting for confounders (race/ethnicity, site, caregiver education, and income). We also calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) of Tanner stages 2+ at time of blood sampling.

Results: Cross-sectionally, the prevalence of B2+ and PH2+ was inversely related to chemical serum concentrations; but after adjustment for confounders, only the associations with B2+, not PH2+, were statistically significant. Longitudinally, the age at pubertal transition was consistently older with greater chemical concentrations; for example: adjusted TR for B2+ and Q4 for ΣPBDE = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.08, for ΣPCB = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.08, and for ΣOCP = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.14, indicating median ages of about 6 and 11 months older than least exposed, and with similar effect estimates for PH2+. Adjusting for BMI attenuated associations for PCBs and OCPs but not for PBDEs.

Conclusions: This first longitudinal study of puberty in girls with serum POPs measurements (to our knowledge) reveals a delay in onset with higher concentrations.

Citation: Windham GC, Pinney SM, Voss RW, SjÖdin A, Biro FM, Greenspan LC, Stewart S, Hiatt RA, Kushi LH. 2015. Brominated flame retardants and other persistent organohalogenated compounds in relation to timing of puberty in a longitudinal study of girls. Environ Health Perspect 123:1046–1052;  http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408778

Address correspondence to G.C. Windham, EHIB/CDPH, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, Richmond, CA 94804 USA. Telephone: (510) 620-3638. E-mail: gayle.windham@cdph.ca.gov

We acknowledge and thank numerous BCERP (Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program) collaborators for their contributions to this work, including M. Wolff and A. Calafat, as well as the field staff at each site, and J. Barlow, G. Greenberg, P. Monroe, and other members of the Community Outreach and Translation Core. We also thank I.J. Ergas, C. Laurent, and R. Lum for data management and preliminary analyses.

Current address for R.W.V.: EHIB/CDPH (Environmental Health Investigations Branch/California Department of Public Health), Richmond, CA, USA.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to the Breast Cancer & the Environment Research Centers at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (U01 ES012801), and the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (U01 ES12770), with support from the University of Cincinnati Center for Environmental Genetics (P30-ES006096), the CDPH, and the NIH/National Center for Research Resources–sponsored University of California, San Francisco Center for Translational Science Institute (UL1 RR024131).

The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIEHS, the NCI, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, or the CDPH. G.C.W. is employed by EHIB/CDPH; R.W.V. was employed by Impact Assessment Inc., at the time the work was completed; L.C.G. is employed by Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program; and L.H.K. is employed by the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente.

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Received: 3 June 2014 Accepted: 6 May 2015 Advance Publication: 8 May 2015 Final Publication: 1 October 2015

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