High levels of pollution could stunt pre-pubescent growth, according to a new Russian study published in the January issue of Pediatrics.
Between 2003 and 2005, researchers studied 499 eight and nine-year-old boys from the heavily-polluted Russian town of Chapaevsk. Tracking the boys’ progress over three years through annual blood samples and physical exams, the researchers found that the boys with the highest blood concentrations of pollution-related chemicals grew more slowly than their counterparts, with an average decrease in height of 0.19 cm per year.
Researchers measured levels of serum dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), two toxic chemicals caused by pollution. In the U.S., dioxin emissions are heavily regulated by the EPA, and PCBs have been banned since 1979.
Both chemicals are present in the polluted Russian town, however, and while there was a wide variety of contamination levels among the boys from Chapaevsk, the median levels were well above those reported in the U.S. and Europe.
Dioxins effect cell development, while PCBs are thought to interfere with thyroid hormone homeostasis.
The researchers will continue to track the boys, especially to see if they are at higher risk of disease as adults.