Widespread environmental pollutants may retard puberty, suggests a new study of adolescents.
Since the 1970s, research has shown that these polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons can disrupt hormonal pathways in animals and people, thereby damaging sperm production and increasing the incidence of certain cancers (SN: 11/4/00, p. 303). The chemicals–which have been used in industry and are released from burning plastics–include dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and furans.
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