When my husband and I were first engaged, we went to a dinner party at the home of a family friend. Since the two of us basically got together and decided to get married in just under two weeks—long story, and no it doesn’t involve a shotgun—most people at the party didn’t know my intended. He got grilled—on his childhood, family, education, career, even past girlfriends. And he passed with flying colors, until the moment when he revealed his astrological sign.

A cancer? Eyebrows were raised. Mutterings were heard. Moodiness. Intensity. My friend’s Austrian grandmother leaned over and told me, “When the moon is full, you need to take him outside so he can cry.” We looked at each other and laughed. Who needs to cry when you’re falling in love?

Flash forward 15 years and—like clockwork—my kind and wonderful husband turns moody and intense each time the moon is full. Only now he’s joined by my daughter, whose birthday is three days after his, and whose monthly moody intensity puts him to shame.

Remember all those John Hughes movies filled with drama and teenaged angst? That’s my daughter, about four days out of the month. Sobbing frenzies predicated by a far-flung brush and “I hate my hair!” A room full of clothes and nothing to wear. Crying jags over misunderstandings.

She’s nine.

But a new study has me wondering if this monthly moodiness has less to do with her astrological sign and more to do with PMS. An August, Pediatrics published a study that found one in 10 girls have already begun developing breasts—the first sign of puberty—by the age of eight and that the cause may be exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), found in plastics and food-can linings, as well as preservatives, surfactants, pesticides and plastic additives. The problem, it seems, is that these chemicals mimic estrogen in the body, thus tricking it into starting the process of puberty earlier than necessary. 

The bigger problem is that our government hasn’t passed any toxic substances regulation since 1976, so chemicals like these can be developed and added to products without any requirement for safety testing. My daughter’s exposure to BPA from a water bottle or pesticides on the soccer field grass may be low in each case, but the cumulative effect of these exposures on her small body is huge. Early puberty means early breast development, which puts her at a higher risk for breast cancer.

Breast cancer from a bottle? This is scary stuff. And if you’re as scared as I am, let’s do something about it.

1. Get involved with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and support the Safe Chemicals Act and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act—pending in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively—which demand new science that will bring our chemical policies up to date.

2. According to Healthy Child, Healthy World, these chemical reform acts won’t address BPA in bottles—only in receipts. (They coat paper with the stuff. Who knew?) HCHW has their eye on the Food Safety Modernization Act, which may include an amendment proposed by Senator Feinstein to ban BPA from bottles and cans, and recommends that you call your Senator and expressing your support for the bill.

Actions like these cost virtually nothing. They require mere minutes of our time. And they can make a huge difference. Because I’d rather blame my daughter’s moodiness on the moon. Wouldn’t you?