Dr. Maisonet Co-Authors Article in Environmental Research

Dr. Mildred Maisonet-Nogueras has co-authored an article in Environmental Research titled “In utero exposure to atrazine analytes and early menarche in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Cohort,” The article investigates the association between atrazine and the timing of puberty in human females. 

Atrazine is a chemical used in more than 70 countries worldwide; control broadleaf and grassy weeds in agricultural crops.  It is commonly used in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and China.  Evidence from experimental studies suggests that atrazine and its analytes alter the timing of puberty in laboratory animals. Such associations have not been investigated in humans.  This article evaluated the association between in utero exposure to atrazine analytes and earlier menarche attainment in a nested case-control study of the population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Cases were girls who reported menarche before 11.5 years while controls were girls who reported menarche at or after 11.5 years. Using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry., seven atrazine analyte concentrations were measured in maternal gestational urine samples during the period 1991–1992, for 174 cases and 195 controls

The researchers found a weak, non-significant association between in-utero exposure to atrazine metabolite DACT and early menarche, though the association was found to be significant in the subset of girls with complete confounder information. Further exploration of the role of these exposures in female maturation in other cohorts is needed.

Lead author in the study is Dr. Gonza Namulanda of the University of Georgia.  Additional authors were from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children is a cohort study of children born in the former county of Avon, England during 1991 and 1992. 

Environmental Research publishes original reports describing studies of the adverse effects of environmental agents on humans and animals. The principal aim of the journal is to assess the impact of chemicals and microbiological pollutants on human health.