Original reportAssociation of DDT with Spontaneous Abortion: A Case-Control Study
Section snippets
Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms
DDT = dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane
DDE = dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene
DDD = dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethane
HCB = hexachlorobenzene
PCBs = polychlorinated biphenyls
BMI = body mass index
CI =95% confidence interval
SAB = spontaneous abortion
SD = standard deviation
Study Population
Participants in this case-control study were recruited from a prospective cohort study begun in 1996 to assess the reproductive effects of rotating shift work among women working in the Yifang Textile Mill in Anqing, China. Women who are married, ages 22–34 years, nulliparous without history of SAB or infertility, and planning to have a child, are eligible for the parent study. In China, each married couple is permitted to have one child and must receive state permission to do so. Potential
Study Population
The 15 case and 15 control women assessed in this analysis did not differ significantly with regard to demographic characteristics, BMI, or workplace exposures from the 27 women with SAB and 210 with live births not included in the study. Consistent with population characteristics reported for this region of China (18), both case and control women were lean (Table 1). Except for greater breastfeeding and a shorter time between their index event (SAB or birth) and phlebotomy among controls
Discussion
Results of this study support findings in animal models suggesting that exposure to DDT and its metabolites is a potential source of increased risk for SAB 12, 13, 19. Although the mechanism of these associations is unknown, DDT's potential for endocrine activity is hypothesized to explain some of its reproductive toxicities. For example, DDT and DDE are structurally similar to various hormones, including estrogens, and o,p′-DDT and DDE isomers act analogously to estradiol (20). P,p-isomers of
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD HD32505) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS ES00002, ES05947) with funding for the latter provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Korrick was additionally supported by NIEHS grant ES08074 and a Harvard Medical School Edward and Amalie Kass 50th Anniversary Scholars in Medicine Fellowship. This manuscript's contents are the sole
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2021, Ecotoxicology and Environmental SafetyCitation Excerpt :Spontaneous abortion is one of the major complications during pregnancy (Contini et al., 2019), and it often occurs in every one in five pregnancies (Giakoumelou et al., 2016). Several studies have reported significant association between spontaneous abortion in women and elevated serum levels of DDE, DDD and lindane (Korrick et al., 2001; Longnecker et al., 2005; Pathak et al., 2010; Pandey et al., 2020). Rupam et al. (2018) reported that endosulfan caused degeneration in endometrium leading to spontaneous abortions, as well as increase in the calcium ion levels leading to improper muscular rhythm causing infertility in treated female mice.