DDT exposure, work in agriculture, and time to pregnancy among farmworkers in California.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined whether exposure to pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), was associated with longer time to pregnancy (TTP).


METHODS
Pregnant women (N = 402) living in a migrant farmworker community were asked how many months they took to conceive. Women reported their and their partners' occupational and home pesticide exposure preceding conception. In a subset (N = 289), levels of DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), were measured in maternal serum.


RESULTS
No associations were seen with p, p'-DDT, o, p'-DDT, or p, p'-DDE. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure (fecundability odds ratios [fOR] = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.6 to 1.0), home pesticide use (fOR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4 to 0.9), and residence within 200 ft of an agricultural field (fOR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.0) were associated with reduced fecundability (ie, longer TTP).


CONCLUSIONS
Longer TTP was seen among women, but not men, reporting exposure to agricultural and home pesticides.
Harley
Kim G
KG
Center for Children's Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Calif 94704-7380, USA. kharley@berkeley.edu
Marks
Amy R
AR
Bradman
Asa
A
Barr
Dana B
DB
Eskenazi
Brenda
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture; D002140:California; D003634:DDT / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D010575:Pesticides / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013997:Time Factors; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D055815:Young Adult
D010575:Pesticides; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; D003634:DDT