A new study points to a possible factor in the trend of children reaching puberty at younger ages in recent decades. The first-of-its-kind research found that a common chemical, musk ambrette, used to add scent to a wide range of products, may cause the body to release puberty-related hormones earlier than it would otherwise.
The research, published in the journal Endocrinology, is the first to look at how chemicals found in the environment may affect the brain, possibly leading to early puberty, Dr. Natalie Shaw, a pediatric endocrinologist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and co-senior author of the study, told NBC News.
However, it’s too early to say whether musk ambrette is definitely playing a role in the early puberty trend, experts stress — though there may be some small steps that parents can take to err on the side of caution.
Here’s what to know about the research, musk ambrette and the products that contain it.
Puberty starting earlier in girls and boys
Research from 2020 shows that the average age of starting puberty for girls has decreased by about three months each decade from 1977 to 2013. A study from 2012 found that boys were hitting puberty anywhere from six months to two years earlier than previous research had indicated.
And a large study in May 2024 published in JAMA, which looked at over 70,000 females born between 1950
Girls have been hitting puberty at increasingly younger ages over the past few decades. New research looks at environmental factors that may play a role.
To conduct the study, the researchers looked at over 10,000 compounds using a library of licensed pharmaceuticals, environmental chemicals and dietary supplements.
They found that musk ambrette, which is a synthetic form of musk, may be able to attach to a receptor in the brain associated with puberty and prompt it to release a hormone called GnRH, which affects the sexual maturation of organs and production of sex hormones, like estrogen, testosterone and progesterone.
“The ability of these compounds to stimulate these brain receptors raises the possibility that they may prematurely activate the reproductive axis in children,” Shaw tells TODAY.com via email.
