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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on August 24, 2005
American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 162(8):717-725; doi:10.1093/aje/kwi276
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American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Association of DDT and DDE with Birth Weight and Length of Gestation in the Child Health and Development Studies, 1959–1967

Lili Farhang1,2, June M. Weintraub1, Myrto Petreas3, Brenda Eskenazi4 and Rajiv Bhatia1,2

1 San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA
2 Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA
3 Hazardous Materials Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA
4 Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Correspondence to Lili Farhang, Environmental Health Section, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 1390 Market Street, Suite 910, San Francisco, CA 94102 (e-mail: lili.farhang{at}sfdph.org).

The pesticide p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its persistent metabolite p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) are associated with negative reproductive outcomes in animals. In humans, however, the findings are inconsistent. Using data from the Child Health and Development Studies, a longitudinal study of 20,754 pregnancies among San Francisco Bay Area women from 1959 to 1967, the authors examined the effects of maternal serum DDT and DDE concentrations on preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age birth, birth weight, and gestational age in 420 male subjects. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression for preterm and small-for-gestational-age birth and linear regression for birth weight and gestational age. Median serum concentrations of DDE were 43 µg/liter (interquartile range: 32–57; range: 7–153) and of DDT were 11 µg/liter (interquartile range: 8–16; range: 3–72), several times higher than current US concentrations. The adjusted odds ratio for preterm birth was 1.28 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73, 2.23) for DDE and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.50, 1.78) for DDT. For small-for-gestational-age birth, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.44, 1.26) for DDE and 0.69 (95% CI: 0.73, 1.27) for DDT; none of the study results achieved statistical significance. Given the persistence of DDT in the environment and its continuing role in malaria control, studies using more robust data should continue to assess this relation.

birth weight; DDT; dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene; gestational age; hydrocarbons, chlorinated; infant, small for gestational age; preterm birth; serum

Abbreviations: CHDS, Child Health and Development Studies; CI, confidence interval; DDE, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; DDT, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; OR, odds ratio; PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl; SE, standard error


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