We’ve heard over and over again how fertilizers are bad for the environment for so many reasons and we’re all aware that puberty is starting younger and younger, but there might be a correlation according to a study by Dr. Francesco Massart and his colleagues at the University of Pisa in Italy.

They were researching a group of girls from the North-West region of Tuscany to figure out why this area had such a higher incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP), or early onset puberty. They found that certain toxins, such as mycoestrogen zearalenone (ZEA) made by the Fusarium species of fungus, might be a contributor. Because of the similarity of these toxins to estrogen and anabolic growth agents used in animal breeding, they were linked (6 out of the 17 girls studied) to the higher than average amount of CCP in the region. Since higher levels of these toxins were found in less than half of the girls studied, the researchers suggested that “other environmental factors such as herbicides and pesticides might be involved.”

The research calls for further study into the possible negative effects of environmental pollutants on children. Of course, Swye readers already know these pollutants are bad and should be avoided anyway, so this is just another of a growing list of reasons.

Via ScienceDaily