Toxins and Early Puberty

Thanks to BPA and other chemicals the new age of puberty for girls is 10

Posted: 09 Apr 2012 07:05 AM PDT

(NaturalNews) Girls as young as 7 years old are now beginning to develop breasts and undergo other body changes that their mothers had not experienced until years later. The prime culprit for this new phenomena is bisphenol A, better known as simply BPA.

BPA is a colorless solid chemical compound which has two phenol chemical groups and is widely used to make polycarbonate polymers and epoxy resins used to make plastics. Prolonged storage as well as high heat cause BPA to leech out. When BPA is leeched into the human body, it mimics estrogen and can offset the delicate hormonal balance in the developing child.

Too profitable to fail?

So widespread has BPA become that it is now found in the vast majority of plastics used commercially today. Most containers and plastic bags contain the compound and it is even found in dollar bills and toilet paper. Most bottled water, which is often subjected to extreme temperatures, has an increased concentration of BPA in the water content.

A majority of canned products contain BPA, used as lining for the insides of cans. Microwavable food often comes in containers or bags containing BPA and is especially susceptible to leeching due to high temperatures.

As Natural News reported in April, 2010, the average age that girls begin puberty currently stands at around ten years – a drop of more than a year in a single generation. Notably, a century ago the average age for the onset of puberty in girls was 16.

Early onset of puberty in girls can cause a number of problems later in life due to hormonal imbalance, including increased risk of breast cancer. Studies have shown that risk of breast cancer is reduced by 7 percent for every year the onset of puberty is delayed.

Natural News also reported in 2010 that Canada was the first country in the world to declare Bisphenol A (BPA) to be a toxic substance that poses risks to human health and the environment. However, annual BPA sales have been estimated at $8 Billion and as history has shown us time and again, it is unlikely that the United States will take action anytime soon against such a highly profitable item. In fact, just this past week Natural News reported that -right on cue – the FDA announced that it would not ban BPA due to lack of evidence of harm.