Reproductive impacts

DDT Exposure, Work in Agriculture and Time to Pregnancy Among Farmworkers in California, Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 50 (12):1335-42, December 2008

Abstract: Objective: This study examined whether exposure to pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), was associated with longer time to pregnancy (TTP).

Methods: Pregnant women (N 402) living in a migrant farmworker community were asked how many months they took to conceive. Women reported their and their partners’ occupational and home pesticide exposure preceding conception.
In a subset (N 289), levels of DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), were measured in maternal serum.

Results: No associations were seen with p,-DDT, o, p-DDT, or p, p-DDE. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure (fecundability odds ratios [fOR]0.8, 95% CI: 0.6 to 1.0), home pesticide use (fOR
0.6, 95% CI: 0.4 to 0.9), and residence within 200 ft of an agricultural field (fOR 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.0) were associated with reduced fecundability (ie, longer TTP).

Conclusions: Longer TTP was seen among women, but not men, reporting exposure to agricultural and home pesticides.

Exposure of Mother - Child and Postpartum Woman - Infant Pairs to DDT and its Metabolites in Tianjin, China. Science of the Total Environment, April 2008

PANNA Summary: In this study,  data gathered from mothers, postpartum woman and children was assayed. Levels of DDT in children were seen to be higher than that in the women's. The finding indicate a cumulative effect of DDT in the human body in Tianjin, China.

Abstract: 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) exhibits its long persistence in the environment, unusual bioaccumulation, effects on wildlife, and the possibility of long-term adverse effects on human health, especially reproductive toxicity.Despite the prohibition of most persistent organochlorine pesticides in China, the presence of organochlorine residue, including DDT, has been widely indicated in environmental substance. However, scarce information is available about accumulative levels of DDT in human tissues in China. To evaluate levels of DDT and its potential effects on women and children's health in a Chinese pesticide- exposed area, we recruited 50 pairs of mother–child and 50
postpartum women, and determined the levels of total DDT and its four main metabolites (p,p-DDE, p,p-DDT, p,p-DDD, o,p-DDT) in venous blood, breastmilk and umbilical blood cord by gas chromatography. Accordingly, data on reproductive outcomes of mothers and postpartum women and healthy status of children and infants were gathered through a questionnaire and medical examinations. Furthermore, we also assayed the DDT levels of some environmental samples (soil, food, milk, et al.). The levels of DDT in children's blood were higher than that in the women's. As compared to breast milk, the umbilical blood cord and the ventral fat individually demonstrated a significantly lower and higher level of DDT in the postpartum women. DDT was lower in milk and crucian carp than in the soil near the chemical plant. p,p-DDT and p,p-DDE were the main metabolites of DDT. Our findings suggested the cumulative effect of DDT in human body in Tianjin, China.

Aneck-Hahn, NH, Schulenburg, GW, Bornman, MS, Farias P, and De JagerC Impaired Semen Quality Associated With Environmental DDT Exposure inYoung Men Living in a Malaria Area in the Limpopo Province, SouthAfrica. Journal of Andrology 2007 28(3).

PANNA Summary: This study found associations of DDT and DDE, a breakdown of DDT, associated with abnormal sperm, impaired sperm movement, and low ejaculate volume in semen from healthy men aged 18-40 who live in an area in South Africa where DDT is sprayed every year.The results imply that non-occupational exposure to DDT is associated with impaired semen in men. The high exposure levels of DDT and DDE are of concern, as these levels may have far reaching implications for reproductive and general health.

Abstract: The pesticide DDT[1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(chlorodiphenyl)ethane] is one of the 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that were under negotiation at the Stockholm Convention, to restrict or ban their production and use because of to their toxicity, resistance to breakdown, bioaccumulation and potential for being transported over long distances. DDT has estrogenic potential and the main metabolite p,p'-DDE is a potent anti-androgen. In response to mounting evidence on the endocrine disrupting influence of environmental chemicals on human health, this epidemiological study was initiated to test the hypothesis that non-occupational exposure to DDT affects male reproductive parameters. In a cross sectional study healthy male subjects (n=311) aged between18 and 40 years (23±5) were recruited from three communities in anendemic malaria area where DDT is sprayed annually. A semen analysis according to the World Health Organization (WHO)(1999) standards was performed. The Hamilton Thorne Computer Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA)system was simultaneously used to determine additional sperm motility parameters. Blood plasma samples were assayed for p,p'-DDT and metabolites as a measure of exposure. The exposure levels were expressed as lipid adjusted p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE values. The mean p,p’-DDT and p,p'-DDE concentrations were 90.23 µg/g (±102.4) and215.47 µg/g (±210.6), respectively. The multivariate linear regression analyses indicated that: the mean CASA motility was lower with a higher p,p'-DDE concentration (beta = -0.02; p=0.001) and the CASA parameter,beat cross frequency (BCF)was higher with a higher p,p'-DDT concentration (beta= 0.01; p =0.000). There was also a statistically significantly positive association between the percentage sperm with cytoplasmic droplets and p,p’-DDT concentration(beta =0.0014; p=0.014). The ejaculate volume (mean:1.9±1.33mL) was lower than the normal range ( 2.0mL)for the WHO, and a significant decrease with increasing p,p'-DDE values was seen for both square rooted volume(beta=-0.0003; p= 0.024) and count (beta =-0.003; p= 0.04). Although there were no associations between either p,p'-DDT or p,p'-DDE concentrations and the rest of the seminal parameters, the incidence of teratozoospermia (% Normal sperm <15%) (99%) was high. Twenty-eight percent of the study group presented with oligo zoospermia (< 20million sperm/mL) which had a significantly positive association with p,p'-DDE (OR:1.001; p = 0.03). There was a significantly positive association between participants with asthenozoospermia (32%) andp,p'-DDT (OR:1.003, p = 0.006) and p,p'-DDE (OR:1.001, p = 0.02). The results imply that non-occupational exposure to DDT is associated with impaired seminal parameters in men. The high exposure levels ofp,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE are of concern, as these levels may have far reaching implications for reproductive and general health.

Full text: http://www.andrologyjournal.org/cgi/rapidpdf/jandrol.106.001701v1