Shampoos Cause Early Puberty in Girls Adapted from an article by Sylvia Pagán Westphal, Boston for New Scientist magazine. An article published in New Scientist on 3 April 2002 described how girls as young as eight, and in one case just 14 months, started to develop pubic hair and breasts after using shampoo that contained hormones. Unbeknown to many parents, a few hair products - especially some targeted at African-Americans - contain small amounts of hormones that could cause premature sexual development in girls. The evidence that shampoos and conditioners that contain estrogens (UK spelling - oestrogens) cause premature puberty is largely circumstantial, and the case is still unproven. But Ella Toombs, acting director for the Office of Cosmetics and Colors at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told New Scientist: "No amount [of estrogen] is considered safe and can be included in an over-the-counter product." Under FDA regulations, over-the-counter products containing hormones are classified as drugs and require specific approval. However, at least five companies are still making hormone-containing cosmetic hair products, a source within the industry - who preferred not to be named - told New Scientist. Throughout the West, girls are tending to reach puberty earlier. This has been blamed on everything from improved diet to environmental contaminants. But African-American girls are developing even earlier than their white counterparts. About half of black girls in the US begin developing breasts or pubic hair by age eight, compared with just 15 per cent of white girls, one study has found. In Africa, girls enter puberty much later, regardless of their socioeconomic status. This discrepancy may be explained, at least in part, by the more frequent use of hormone-containing hair products among African-Americans, says Chandra Tiwary, former chief of paediatric endocrinology at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. "I believe that the frequency of sexual precocity can be reduced simply if children do not use those hair products," he says. The offending products are sold as shampoos or treatments to deep-condition dry, brittle hair that are sold in the USA. The labels usually state that they contain "Placenta", "Hormones" or "Estrogen", although not all products that make such claims contain active hormones. This problem is unlikely to occur in the UK because estrogens, human tissues and extracts from human tissues such as human placental extract, are banned from cosmetics sold within the European Union (EU) although many are still available worldwide over the Internet and animal placental extracts, which contain the same hormones, are permitted in cosmetics sold within the EU. Despite the health risks, hormone containing cosmetics remain popular among African-Americans. A small study published earlier this year by Su-Ting Li of the Child Health Institute in Seattle suggests that nearly half of African-American parents use such products, and that most also use them on their children. For other ethnic groups the figure is under 10 per cent. Tiwary told New Scientist that he has carried out a bigger, as yet unpublished, survey of 2000 households that confirms these findings. In 1998 Tiwary, now retired, published a study of four girls - including a 14-month-old - who developed breasts or pubic hair a few months after beginning to use hormone containing cosmetics. These symptoms started to disappear when they stopped using these products. The year before, he published a study showing that some of the products used by his patients contained up to four milligrams of estradiol (oestradiol) per 100 grams. Others contained up to two grams of the much less potent estriol (oestriol) per 100 grams. B&B Super Gro, for example, which has been on the market for many years and is still available today in the US, and claims to be "rich in hormones", was found to contain 1.6 grams of estriol per 100 grams. There is no doubt that estrogens are readily absorbed through the skin since hormone therapy is often delivered via patches. Long-term exposure to small doses absorbed through the scalp could cause premature puberty. Despite there being anecdotal reports in scientific papers going back to 1982 describing early puberty in children after use of hair treatments, as well as certain ointments, the evidence that estrogen-containing hair products cause early puberty remains limited. There are too many other suspect substances which could also be contributing to early puberty such as the notorious endocrine disrupter chemicals (EDCs or the aptly named gender benders) that mimic the action of estrogens. "A person isn't exposed to just one chemical, but rather a mix of many," says Julia Brody, director of the Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts, a non-profit organisation that looks at the environment and women's health. "There is an increasing awareness that hormonally active compounds are present in cosmetic products." Clearly a great deal more research must be done in this area and the focus should not be just on girls. If these cosmetics can cause early puberty in females, what are they doing to males? Back to the top © Gina & Steve Antczak, 2001 This page was last updated, 7 April 2002 CosmeticsUnmasked.Com