Bras keep abreast

Studies indicate that if correct treatment and slaughter procedures are followed, the levels of these hormones may be slightly higher in the treated animal's meat or milk, but are still within the normal range of natural variation known to occur in untreated animals. Scientists are currently trying to develop better methods to measure steroid hormone residues left in edible meat from a treated animal.

Can steroid hormones in meat affect the age of puberty for girls?

Steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls in some reports. However, exposure to higher than natural levels of steroid hormones through hormone-treated meat or poultry has never been documented. Large epidemiological studies have not been done to see whether or not early puberty in developing girls is associated with having eaten growth hormone-treated foods.

The amount of steroid hormone that is eaten through meat of a treated animal is negligible compared to what the human body produces each day.

The FDA refutes both the Consumer Union's and Epstein's views. Citing studies demonstrating BST does not increase the IGF-1 content, the agency issued a statement explaining: "The IGF-1 content that occurs naturally in human breast milk occurs at about the same concentration as that found in cow's milk. Levels of IGF-1 in cows' milk and meat are very much lower than the levels found naturally in human blood and other body tissues. IGF-1 is not absorbed intact. Dietary IGF-1 in milk and meat is broken down in the gastrointestinal tract by digestion. Undigested IGF is excreted."

Another sign that environmental hormones may adversely affect sexual development is the decline in sperm counts and semen volume in men over the past 50 years. In one study of 14,947 men, sperm count dropped by almost 50% between 1940 and 1990, and the amount of semen the men were able to produce dropped an average of almost 20%. Estrogenic compounds loom as a major problem. They include the organohalogen pesticide DDT and its major metabolite, DDE, which accumulate in body fat and are found in breastmilk;

The vulnerability of children has been verified by several studies. In the mid-1980s, Puerto Rican girls who had consumed DES in meat developed large breasts at an early age and had other signs of precocious puberty.

We discovered while doing that (recreating animal models for both sons and daughters) work that DES also was being given to cattle as a growth-promoting substance. So we started to think about estrogenic materials in the environment because it was estimated some 13 tons of DES was added every year to the environment through feedlots and feedlot wastes." DES has since been outlawed for use in animals.

Besides cancer risk, a few other unsubstantiated claims against steroid additives have been made. For example, they have been blamed at least partially for earlier puberty onset in some female populations (also a risk factor for breast cancer), but no epidemiological studies have ever been done on this.

The synthetic estrogen hormone, diethylstilbestrol (DES), in food production was phased out by 1979,

For now, no conclusive evidence exists either to support or totally refute the purported health risks from consuming meat or dairy from hormonally treated cows.