Infant girls exposed to high levels of the pesticide DDT while stillinside the womb are three times more likely to develop hypertensionwhen they become adults, according to a new study led by theUniversity of California, Davis.
Previous studies have shown that adults exposed to DDT(dichlorodiplhenyltrichloroethane) are at an increased risk of highblood pressure. But this study, published online March 12 inEnvironmental Health Perspectives, is the first to link prenatal DDTexposure to hypertension in adults.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a high risk factor for heartdisease, which remains the leading cause of death in the UnitedStates and worldwide.
"The prenatal period is exquisitely sensitive to environmentaldisturbance because that's when the tissues are developing," saidstudy lead author Michele La Merrill, an assistant professor in theUC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT in this countryin 1972 after nearly three decades of use. However, the pesticide isstill used for malaria control in other parts of the world, such asIndia and South Africa. That means children born in those areas couldhave a higher risk of hypertension as adults.
La Merrill said that traces of DDT, a persistent organic pollutant,also remain in the food system, primarily in fatty animal products.
The study examined concentrations of DDT in blood samples collectedfrom women who had participated in the Child Health and DevelopmentStudies, an ongoing project of the nonprofit Public Health Institute.The CHDS recruited women who sought obstetric care through KaiserPermanente Foundation Health Plan in the San Francisco Bay Areabetween 1959 and 1967. They also surveyed the adult daughters ofthose women to learn if they had developed hypertension.
"Evidence from our study shows that women born in the U.S. before DDTwas banned have an increased risk of hypertension that might beexplained by increased DDT exposure," said La Merrill. "And thechildren of people in areas where DDT is still used may have anincreased risk, as well."
Source: University of California - Davis