Study of Health Effects of DDT in Mexico

最近的数据继续表明，杀虫剂滴滴涕的使用可能对人类健康产生不利影响，但基本上没有关于这一主题的研究结果，因此这个问题仍然悬而未决。滴滴涕是否具有不利影响很重要，因为约有12个国家仍在使用滴滴涕控制疟疾，世界卫生组织目前支持使用滴滴涕的建议是基于这样一种假设，即滴滴涕对人类健康基本上没有不利影响。 DDE是DDT的主要降解产物和代谢产物。 直到1999年，墨西哥一直使用杀虫剂DDT来控制疟疾;许多热带地区的人血液中DDT代谢物DDE的水平升高。 我在墨西哥的项目有两个阶段的实地工作;两个阶段都基于同一组主题。 我进行了本研究的第1阶段，以检查母亲血清DDE水平与781名墨西哥塔帕丘拉新生男性雄激素作用降低的证据之间的关系。 所有I期受试者均于2002-2003年入组;应答率为95%。 该研究的第二阶段于2004财政年度开始。这项研究跟踪了757名参加第一阶段的妇女和儿童，以确定滴滴涕暴露是否与母亲哺乳期缩短有关。此外，还对这些后代进行了跟踪，以检查其幼年接触滴滴涕与感染和生长的关系。 后续行动已经完成。 计划报告第1阶段和第2阶段结果的所有主要论文均已在前几个财政年度发表。 去年的进展： 我们发表了一篇关于滴滴涕和儿童呼吸道感染的论文（与以前在暴露水平较低的人群中进行的研究不同，没有发现相关性）。 我们计划在下一个财政年度准备一份关于胃肠道感染的类似手稿。

Recent data continue to indicate that use of the insecticide DDT may have adverse effects on human health, but essentially no findings on this topic have been replicated, so the question is still open. Whether DDT has adverse effects is important because DDT is still used for malaria control in about 12 countries, and current recommendations by the World Health Organization that support DDT use are based on the assumption that it has basically no adverse health consequences for humans. DDE is the major degradation product and metabolite of DDT. Mexico used the insecticide DDT for malaria control until 1999; many people there in tropical areas have elevated blood levels of the DDT metabolite, DDE. My project in Mexico had two phases of field work; both were based on the same group of subjects. I conducted phase 1 of this study to examine the relation between maternal serum levels of DDE in relation to evidence of decreased androgen action in 781 newborn males in Tapachula, Mexico. All phase 1 subjects were enrolled in 2002-2003; the response rate was 95%. Phase 2 of this study began in FY 2004. This study followed 757 women and children enrolled in Phase 1, to determine if DDT exposure is related to reduced length of lactation among mothers. In addition, the offspring were followed to examine early-life DDT exposure in relation to infection and growth. Follow-up has been completed. All of the main papers planned to report finding from Phase 1 and Phase 2 have been published in previous fiscal years. Last years progress: We published a manuscript on DDT and childhood respiratory infections (unlike previous studies in populations with lower levels of exposure, no associations were found). We plan to prepare a similar manuscript on gastrointestinal infections in the coming fiscal year.