BACKGROUND Cadmium is a reproductive toxin and carcinogen that exhibits estrogen-like activity. In addition to smoking, exposure to cadmium occurs from inhalation of polluted air and diet. Little is known about whether exposure to cadmium affects pubertal development in girls. AIMS Our aim was to determine whether urinary cadmium concentration was associated with the attainment of menarche and Tanner's stages of estrogenic (breast) and androgenic (pubic hair) development. METHODS A total of 211 girls between the ages of 10 and 13 years and primarily non-Hispanic white or Chinese provided an overnight urine specimen and completed an interview and self-assessment of Tanner's stage of breast and pubic hair development at baseline and annually for up to two years. Attainment of menarche was assessed monthly. Urinary cadmium and creatinine concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and a modified-rate Jaffe method, respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate whether cadmium was associated with age at menarche and cumulative logit regression to evaluate whether cadmium was associated with stage of breast and pubic hair development. RESULTS The mean creatinine-adjusted cadmium concentration was 0.24 μg/g (SD=0.12 μg/g); it was highest among 10-year olds (0.29 μg/g creatinine) and decreased with age (mean among 13-year olds=0.23 μg/g; Kruskal-Wallis p=0.05). Chinese girls had higher cadmium levels than non-Hispanic white girls (0.30 vs. 0.23 μg/g; p=0.006). Girls with the highest unadjusted cadmium concentrations (≥ 0.4 vs. ＜0.2 μg/L) were less likely to have attained menarche (hazard ratio=0.42; 95% confidence interval=0.23-0.78; p-trend=0.007). They also had a lower Tanner stage of pubic hair growth (odds ratio=0.24; 95% confidence interval=0.07-0.81). Breast development stage was not associated with cadmium concentration. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that cadmium exposure may delay pubertal development in girls.
展开▼
机译：背景技术镉是一种生殖毒素和致癌物，表现出类似雌激素的活性。除吸烟外，吸入污染的空气和饮食还会导致镉暴露。关于镉是否会影响女孩的青春期发育还知之甚少。目的我们的目的是确定尿中镉的浓度是否与女性初潮和丹纳期雌激素（乳腺）和雄激素（阴毛）发育的阶段有关。方法共有211名年龄在10至13岁之间的女孩（主要是非西班牙裔的白人或华裔女孩）提供了夜间尿液样本，并在基线和每年进行一次对Tanner乳房和阴毛发育阶段的访谈和自我评估。到两年。每月评估初潮的达到情况。尿镉和肌酐的浓度分别采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法和改良率Jaffe法进行测定。使用Cox比例风险回归来评估镉是否与初潮时的年龄有关，并使用累积logit回归来评估镉是否与乳房和阴毛的发育阶段有关。结果平均肌酐调整后的镉浓度为0.24μg/ g（SD = 0.12μg/ g）;它在10岁儿童中最高（0.29μg/ g肌酐），并且随着年龄的增长而降低（13岁儿童中的平均值= 0.23μg/ g; Kruskal-Wallis p = 0.05）。中国女孩的镉含量高于非西班牙裔白人女孩（0.30 vs. 0.23μg/ g; p = 0.006）。未调整镉浓度最高（≥0.4 vs. ＜0.2μg/ L）的女孩初潮的可能性较小（危险比= 0.42; 95％置信区间= 0.23-0.78; p-趋势= 0.007）。他们的阴毛生长的Tanner期也较低（奇数比= 0.24; 95％置信区间= 0.07-0.81）。乳房发育阶段与镉浓度无关。结论这些发现表明，镉暴露可能会延迟女孩青春期的发育。
展开▼
