Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Blood lead levels and delayed onset of puberty in a longitudinal study of Russian boys.

Authors: Williams, Paige L; Sergeyev, Oleg; Lee, Mary M; Korrick, Susan A; Burns, Jane S; Humblet, Olivier; DelPrato, Julie; Revich, Boris; Hauser, Russ

Published In Pediatrics, (2010 May)

Abstract: We evaluated the association of blood lead levels (BLLs) with pubertal onset in a longitudinal cohort of Russian boys.A total of 489 Russian boys were enrolled in 2003-2005, at 8 to 9 years of age, and were monitored annually through May 2008. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to evaluate the association of BLLs at enrollment with time to pubertal onset during follow-up monitoring.A total of 481 boys had BLLs, with a median of 3 microg/dL and 28% with values of > or =5 microg/dL. The proportion of pubertal boys increased with age, from 12% at age 8 to 83% at age 12 for testicular volume of >3 mL, from 22% to 90% for genitalia stage 2 or higher, and from 4% to 40% for pubic hair stage 2 or higher. After adjustment for potential confounders including BMI and height, boys with high BLLs (> or =5 microg/dL) had 24% to 31% reduced risk of pubertal onset, on the basis of testicular volume of >3 mL (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.73 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.97]; P = .03), genitalia staging (HR: 0.76 [95% CI: 0.59-0.98]; P = .04), and pubic hair staging (HR: 0.69 [95% CI: 0.44-1.07]; P = .10), compared with those with lower BLLs. Pubertal onset occurred 6 to 8 months later, on average, for boys with high BLLs, compared with those with BLLs of <5 microg/dL.Higher BLLs were associated with later pubertal onset in this prospective study of peripubertal Russian boys.

PubMed ID: 20368318 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adolescent; Body Size; Child; Cohort Studies; Feeding Behavior; Health Surveys; Humans; Lead Poisoning/blood*; Lead Poisoning/prevention & control; Lead/blood*; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Proportional Hazards Models; Puberty, Delayed/blood*; Puberty, Delayed/chemically induced*; Russia; Sexual Maturation/drug effects; Socioeconomic Factors

Back
to Top