Can a Household Chemical Trigger Menopause?

We take these modern conveniences for granted: non-stick pans, water-proof raincoats, and stain resistant rugs. The miracle chemical behind all these products is PFC, short for perfluorochemical. But now it looks like the very chemical that makes women's lives easier might be causing us to enter menopause at an earlier age.

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A new study conducted by the West Virginia School of Medicine of 25,957 women (the largest ever done) found that women with high levels of PFCs in their body had lower concentrations of estrogen compared with women with low levels of PFCs. The study is published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Its lead author, Sarah Knox, said that there is no doubt that there is an association between exposure to PFCs and onset of menopause. She cautioned, however, that the cause and effect isn't yet clear. She suspects that part of the explanation could be that women in these age groups have higher PFC levels because they are no longer losing PFCs with menstrual blood. Knox says that in any case it's still clinically disturbing because it would imply that increased PFC exposure is the natural result of menopause.

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Besides the possibility of early onset menopause, PFCs have been linked to increased cardiovascular risk and impairment of the immune system. They've also been linked to cancers and thyroid disease in animal studies. The type of PFCs found in nonstick frying pans has been known in rare cases at high heat to kill birds and cause flu-like symptoms in humans. Although chemical companies maintain their PFC products are safe, the study raises questions about whether early menopause is a new reason to worry about the chemical.