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Epidemiology BranchThe Tapachula Study—also known as Effect of the Antiandrogen DDE on Anthropometric Measures at Birth—has several goals, primarily related to health effects of DDT and its metabolites. In this study, researchers enrolled mother-infant pairs during 2002-2003, and study deliveries occurred at either of two hospitals in Tapachula, a city of about 250,000 people in the state of Chiapas, southern Mexico, near the Guatemalan border. The state of Chiapas was chosen for the study because it has the highest incidence of malaria cases in the country. Although use of DDT in Mexico ceased in the late 1990s, the median measured levels of p,p' -DDE among women in the study were ~24 g/L, about what would be expected in an area where DDT use for agriculture and mosquito control had been routine. About 900 women provided blood specimens at delivery, and cord blood for about 600 infants was available. The mothers were also given a questionnaire, and anthropometric measurements were performed on the infants. Maternal serum for all subjects was analyzed for DDT/DDE. Beginning in 2004, mothers were administered a follow-up questionnaire at 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months after birth to assess duration of breast feeding and determinants of breast feeding cessation. |
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