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DDT Gone but Not Forgotten

FOR DECADES, SCIENTISTS FAILED TO LINK THE PESTICIDE, DDT, TO A RISK OF BREAST CANCER.  BUT THEY MAY JUST NOT HAVE HAD THE RIGHT DATA, AS YOU’LL HEAR ON THIS ENVIRONMINUTE.

A STUDY BY BARBARA COHN OF THE CALIFORNIA-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE SHOWED THAT WOMEN EXPOSED TO HIGHER LEVELS OF DDT BEFORE PUBERTY HAD AN INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING BREAST CANCER LATER IN LIFE. COHN ANALYZED BLOOD SAMPLES TAKEN FROM YOUNG WOMEN IN THE NINETEEN SIXTIES, BEFORE DDT WAS BANNED IN THE U-S.  THIS ALLOWED HER TO MEASURE ACTUAL DDT EXPOSURES, INSTEAD OF ESTIMATING THEM BASED ON A BYPRODUCT OF THE PESTICIDE THAT PERSISTS IN THE BLOOD.

COHN: PRIOR STUDIES WERE UNABLE TO MEASURE EXPOSURES AT A YOUNG AGE, WHEN WOMEN MIGHT HAVE BEEN MORE VULNERABLE. COHN’S STUDY HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE USE OF DDT ABROAD.  BUT SINCE IT’S USED TO FIGHT MALARIA, COHN SAYS ITS PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS AND BENEFITS MUST BE WEIGHED.

THE ENVIRONMINUTE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE HEINZ FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES AND THE HEINZ ENDOWMENTS.  LEARN MORE BY VISITING ENVIRONMINUTE-DOT-COM. 

Read more in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Learn more about DDT from the EPA.