| Prenatal DDT Exposure in Relation to Anthropometric and Pubertal Measures in Adolescent Males Beth C. Gladen,1 Mark A. Klebanoff,2 Mary L. Hediger,2 Solomon H. Katz,3 Dana B. Barr,4 Mark D. Davis,4 and Matthew P. Longnecker1 1National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; 2National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; 3Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and Development, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 4National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Abstract
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) , a pesticide once used widely in agriculture and now limited to public health use, remains a controversial chemical because of a combination of benefits and risks. DDT or its breakdown products are ubiquitous in the environment and in humans. Compounds in the DDT family have endocrine actions and have been associated with reproductive toxicity. A previous study reported associations between prenatal exposure to p,p´-DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) -ethylene] and increased height and weight in adolescent boys. We examined a group with higher exposures to see whether similar associations would occur. Our study group was 304 males born in Philadelphia in the early 1960s who had participated in a previous study. Anthropometric and pubertal measures from one to six visits during their adolescent years were available, as were stored maternal serum samples from pregnancy. We measured p,p´-DDE, p,p´-DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) -ethane], and o,p´-DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl) -2-(p-chlorophenyl) -ethane] in the maternal serum. Outcomes examined in the boys were height, ratio of sitting height to height, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, ratio of subscapular to the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses, skeletal age, serum testosterone, and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. No associations between prenatal exposure to any of the DDT compounds and any outcome measure were seen. Key words: child development, DDE, DDT, growth, prenatal exposure delayed effects, puberty. Environ Health Perspect 112:1761-1767 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7287 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 7 September 2004]
Address correspondence to B.C. Gladen, Biostatistics Branch, Mail Drop A3-03, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA. Telephone: (919) 541-3461. Fax: (919) 541-4311. E-mail: gladen@niehs.nih.gov The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 25 May 2004 ; accepted 7 September 2004.
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